IBM United States Hardware Announcement 115-132
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(especially to the edges of the tape) and tape debris, which comes from the
damaged edges and accumulation in the head area.
•
Robust drive components optimized for automation environments:
With
the most robust components available, steel ball bearings in loader, robust leader
block design, and single circuit card, the drives offer enhanced reliability and
prolonged life.
•
Separate writing of multiple filemarks:
This is designed to cause any write
command of two or more filemarks to cause a separate data set to be written
containing all filemarks after the first. This feature helps improve performance if
a subsequent append overwrites somewhere after the first filemark.
•
LTO Data Compression (LTO-DC):
The Ultrium 7 uses LTO-DC, which is an
implementation of a Lempel-Ziv class 1 (LZ-1) data compression algorithm.
LTO-DC is an extension of Adaptive Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) and
an improvement over previous IBM lossless compression algorithms. Patented
"Scheme-Swapping" compression from IBM is designed to look ahead at
incoming data and determine the most efficient storage method (either ALDC
or pass-through mode) to help optimize data compression and increase data
throughput. The compressed ratio is up to 2.5 to 1 for LTO Ultrium 7.
•
LTO Cartridge Memory (LTO-CM):
Contained within the LTO Ultrium data
cartridge is the LTO-CM, which is a passive, contactless silicon storage device
that is physically a part of the cartridge. The LTO-CM is designed to hold
information about that specific cartridge, the media in the cartridge, and the
data on the media. The storage capacity of the Generation 7 LTO-CM is 16,320
bytes. Communication between the drive and the LTO-CM is via a low-level RF
field transmitted by the drive to the cartridge.
•
Statistical Analysis and Reporting System (SARS):
The Ultrium 7 tape drive
uses SARS to help isolate failures between media and hardware. SARS uses the
cartridge performance history saved in the Cartridge Memory module and the
drive performance history kept in the drive flash to help determine the likely
cause of failure. SARS is designed to cause the drive to request a cleaner tape, to
mark the media as degraded, and to indicate that the hardware has degraded.
•
Highly integrated electronics using IBM-engineered copper technology:
This technology is designed to reduce the total number of components in the
drive, help lower chip temperatures, and reduce power requirements, resulting in
a more reliable drive. The seventh-generation drive electronics are designed to
provide error correction of soft errors in the memory arrays in data and control
paths.
Ultrium 15 TB compressed data cartridge
The LTO Generation 7 media specification tape cartridge physical compressed
capacity of up to 15 TB (with 2.5 to 1 compression) more than doubles the
IBM Ultrium 6 data cartridge compressed capacity of up to 6.25 TB with 2.5:1
compression. IBM LTO Ultrium 7 tape drives can read and write Ultrium 6 or 7 data
cartridges, and read Ultrium 5 data cartridges. LTO 7 data cartridges should be
ordered using machine type 3589, or as a feature number for restricted resellers at
the time of purchase.
These cartridges have been designed to provide several enhancements over
previous tape technologies. They are designed to work with tape drives that have
increased tape speeds and high-density data recording. The case is specially
designed for use in automated libraries and is designed for repeated, unattended
handling. The tape itself is a Barium Ferrite tape developed for durability and
capacity.
Path failover option
With the introduction of IBM LTO Ultrium 7 tape drive support, the TS3100 and
TS3200 Tape Libraries will support Control Path Failover and Data Path Failover for
all generations of IBM LTO Ultrium half-high tape drives.
Multi-Path support
The Multi-Path feature of the libraries supports sharing of the library robotics. The
library can be partitioned into one or more logical libraries, and can provide each
