Sony SDX-700C, Product Specifications Manual

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14. Appendix G
SONY AIT-3 drive SDX-700 series Ver.2.1 14-15
The SDX-700C operating in the AIT Format Mode allows tapes to be split into separate and independent partitions,
each with its own Reference, System and Vendor Group areas. The maximum size of a partition may be the entire
tape. A tape partitioned into several partitions may be considered a collection of several separate logical tapes. This
is illustrated below:
BOM = Beginning-of-Media (Physical)
BOT = Beginning-of-Tape (Logical)
EOM = End-of-Media (Physical)
EOP = End-of-Partition (Logical)
EOT = End-of-Tape (Logical)
Figure 14-1: Tape Partition Layout
A tape does not require partitioning prior to use. On the first WRITE to a blank tape, the device creates the System,
Reference and Vendor areas before proceeding with the write. In order to reformat media from a two to a single, or
from a single to a two partition tape, the Host is required to use the Medium Partitions Parameter page.
PSUM:
Partition Size Unit of Measured field defines the units in which the Partition Size value selects the partition size,
which in the case of this drive is Megabytes. Therefore, the drive returns 10b for a MODE SENSE and will only
accept this value for a MODE SELECT, otherwise a CHECK CONDITION status is returned with an ILLEGAL
REQUEST Sense Key set.
Partition 1
Three Partitioned Tape
User
Data
Area
BOM BOT
Partition 0
EOT
EOP/
EOM
Device
Area System
Area EOD
Partition 2
DEV
User
Data
Area
System
Area EOD DEV
User
Data
Area
System
Area EOD
Partition 1
Two Partitioned Tape
User
Data
Area
BOM BOT
Partition 0
EOT
EOP/
EOM
Device
Area System
Area EOD DEV
User
Data
Area
System
Area EOD
Single Partitioned Tape
User
Data
Area
BOM BOT
Partition 0
EOT
EOP/
EOM
Device
Area System
Area EOD