Apparatus, system, and method for increasing the longevity of archival tape

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

suspending, by a scheduling computing system, an initiation of a read/write process for an archival tape;

reading a tape status stored on a status tag embedded on a cartridge of the archival tape, wherein the status tag is embedded on the cartridge such that a status-tag reader, within a proximity of the cartridge, is capable of reading the tape status stored on the status tag for use by the scheduling computing system;

deducing, by the scheduling computing system, a health status of the archival tape from the tape status;

adjusting, by the scheduling computing system, a read/write policy of the archival tape based on the health status; and

completing the read/write process of the archival tape based on the adjusted read/write policy.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the read/write process comprises at least one of:

reading data from the archival tape;

writing data to the archival tape;

spooling the archival tape;

unspooling the archival tape;

reading a wrap of the archival tape;

performing a full verification of the archival tape;

performing a compaction process from the archival tape to a new archival tape; or

performing a background scan of the archival tape.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tape status comprises at least one of:

a time of a last full verification of the archival tape;

a time of a last wrap read of the archival tape; or

a percent of a last known media error rate of the archival tape.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein deducing the health status of the archival tape comprises at least one of:

determining a data integrity of the archival tape based on the tape status;

predicting tape deterioration based on the time of the last wrap read; or

estimating a durability score of data on the archival tape based on the time of the last wrap read and the last known media error rate.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the read/write policy comprises at least one of:

rescheduling the read/write process;

changing a frequency of the read/write process;

revising the read/write process;

canceling the read/write process; or

adjusting a different read/write process.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising updating the tape status stored on the status tag of the archival tape based on the completed read/write process.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:

alerting an administrator of a failure of the archival tape; or

improving a predictive analysis method used to predict a future health status of the archival tape.

8. An archival-tape unit comprising:

an archival tape that is configured to store archival data;

a cartridge dimensioned to house the archival tape; and

a status tag, embedded on the cartridge such that a status-tag reader, within a proximity of the cartridge, is capable of reading a tape status stored on the status tag, that is configured to store status data about the archival tape that facilitates procedures by a scheduling computing system to:

deduce a health status of the archival tape from the tape status;

adjust a read/write policy of the archival tape based on the health status; and

command completion of a read/write process of the archival tape based on the adjusted read/write policy.

9. The archival-tape unit of claim 8 , wherein the archival tape comprises a magnetic tape medium capable of storing digital data for sequential access.

10. The archival-tape unit of claim 8 , wherein the cartridge comprises:

at least one reel dimensioned to fit a width of the archival tape for wrapping; and

an enclosure dimensioned to encompass the reel and the wrapped archival tape such that a portion of the archival tape is exposed for read/write processes.

11. The archival-tape unit of claim 8 , wherein the status tag is embedded on the cartridge such that a status-tag writer, within a proximity of the cartridge, is capable of updating the tape status stored on the status tag.

12. A tape-archival system comprising:

at least one archival-tape unit that comprises:

an archival tape configured to store archival data;

a cartridge dimensioned to house the archival tape; and

a status tag, embedded on the cartridge such that a status-tag reader, within a proximity of the cartridge, is capable of reading a tape status stored on the status tag, that is configured to store status data about the archival tape;

at least one status-tag reader that reads the tape status stored on the status tag embedded on the archival-tape unit; and

a scheduling computing system that:

suspends an initiation of a read/write process for the archival tape;

deduces a health status of the archival tape from the tape status;

adjusts a read/write policy of the archival tape based on the health status; and

commands completion of the read/write process of the archival tape based on the adjusted read/write policy.

13. The tape-archival system of claim 12 , wherein the scheduling computing system is electronically coupled to the status-tag reader such that the scheduling computing system:

commands the status-tag reader to read the status tag embedded on the archival-tape unit; and

receives a tape status of the archival tape from the status-tag reader.

14. The tape-archival system of claim 12 , wherein the archival-tape unit is stored in a vertical storage stack, dimensioned to store a plurality of archival tapes in a plurality of horizontal slots, such that a face of the vertical storage stack exposes the status tag embedded on the archival-tape unit to the status-tag reader.

15. The tape-archival system of claim 14 , wherein the scheduling computing system commands completion of the read/write process of the archival tape by at least one of:

commanding at least one tape-handling apparatus to relocate at least one archival-tape unit:

from a slot of the vertical storage stack to a tape drive; or

from the tape drive to the slot of the vertical storage stack; or

commanding the tape drive to complete the read/write process of the archival tape.

16. The tape-archival system of claim 15 , wherein the tape-handling apparatus comprises a robotic arm dimensioned to:

hold the archival-tape unit;

extract the archival-tape unit from the vertical storage stack;

extract the archival-tape unit from the tape drive;

insert the archival-tape unit into the vertical storage stack; and

insert the archival-tape unit into the tape drive.

17. The tape-archival system of claim 15 , wherein the scheduling computing system is electronically coupled to the tape drive such that the scheduling computing system:

sends commands to the tape drive; and/or

receives data from the tape drive.

18. The tape-archival system of claim 15 , wherein the tape drive is dimensioned to:

hold the archival-tape unit; and

complete the read/write process by facilitating at least one of:

reading data from the archival tape;

writing data to the archival tape;

spooling the archival tape;

unspooling the archival tape;

reading a wrap of the archival tape;

performing a full verification of the archival tape;

performing a compaction process from the archival tape to a new archival tape held by another tape drive; or

performing a background scan of the archival tape.

19. The tape-archival system of claim 12 , wherein the scheduling computing system is electronically coupled to a status-tag writer such that the scheduling computing system commands the status-tag writer to update the tape status stored on the status tag of the archival tape based on the completed read/write process.