Advanced data recording technology in DLT tape drive

The ECC blocks and the data can be placed on any of 4 channels in the DLT tape format. The features of SPR and the independent channel data help the DLT tape format to perform these tasks. The location of the block is independent. But if there is a bad block then the DLT tape drive rewrites the data on available next channel. So, the DLT tape drive does efficient error handling and data writing as well. If the channel is temporarily unavailable or is inoperable, even then the unit of DLT tape drive can write the data. The DLT tape format has efficient “correction algorithms” & “error detection” mechanism. Therefore, the DLT technology prevents the data loss and saves the cost due to interruptions during the operations. On smaller segments of DLT backup data tape it can store more volume of data. This is made possible because of the high density technology.

The data tapes having old technology record the data less densely, but the DLT tape format has the latest data recording technology that records the data more densely in large blocks. So, the DLT tape cartridge prevents the data loss and also recovers higher percentage of the stored data. The new and innovative techniques of correction and “error detection” are used in the DLT-7000 backup data tape drive.

The correction and error detection system includes EDC (Error Detection Code), parity, Reed Solomon ECC (multi level) and CDC Cyclical Redundancy Code (multi layers). By using these latest technologies, the DLT-7000 tape drive on single track in channel is able to recover up to 6 consecutive inches of the damaged tape. And in 4 tracks of channel it can recover data up to 1 & 1 ½ inches of the damaged tape.

For maximum tape throughput, it is necessary that the tape drive should have the ability to track the host system’s data transfer rate. The tape repositions frequently incase the tape drive’s transfer rate exceeds the transfer rate of the host. The DLT tape drive has the feature of “adaptive cache buffering” to overcome such problems. By cache buffering, the DLT tape drive monitors the host and dynamically adjusts the operations of cache buffering to lower down the delay that causes repositioning.

Applications requiring frequent searching of files for restoration or retrieval essentially need quick locating files on the tape. The DLT technology reduces the time for searching with the help of “file mark index”. This index is placed at logical start of the tape. The DLT tape drive uses the index to calculate the selected files location. Afterwards the searching is done at very high speed. The benefit of the high capacity tape cartridge is that they give access to more online data, reduce the cost of data storage and media, low investment in the operator hours and the tape drives. The tape length of DLT tape is long and the format is ½ inch wide that is why the DLT tape has high storage capacity. The cost is also reduced because the DLT tape has large area for data recording which is in square inches of the tape.

Most of the other commercial backup tape formats use the techniques of data compression for increasing the tape’s performance and data recoding capacity. The increase is mostly double of the native recording capacity of the tape cartridge. Data compression technique used in the DLT tape format is “Lempel-Ziv”. Its ratio of compression is more than other data compression methodologies that have the technique of IDRC (Improved Data Recording Capability).

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