IBM Assigned Four Patents

Duplicating tape media within tape storage system based on copy tape database
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (11662954) developed by Itagaki, Hiroshi, Yokohama, Japan, Mitsuma, Shinsuke, Machida, Japan, Miyamura, Tsuyoshi, Yokohama, Japan, Yamamoto, Noriko, Hasegawa, Tohru, Tokyo, Japan, and Abe, Atsushi, Ebina, Japan, for “duplicating tape media within a tape storage system based on copy tape database.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Computer software and/or hardware configured to select a first tape medium of a first pool and a second tape medium of a second pool based, at least in part, on a migration command for a file, instruct a tape drive to write the file to both the first tape medium of the first pool and a third tape medium of a system pool of a tape library, record a file identifier (ID) for the file and an identifier for the second tape medium of the second pool in a copy tape database (CTDB), wherein the file ID points to the file written to the third tape medium of the system pool, and instruct the tape drive to read the file from the third tape medium of the system pool utilizing the file ID in the CTDB and to write the file to the second tape medium of the second pool.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-18 (17/698235).

Reordering files
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (11640373) developed by Yamamoto, Noriko, Hasegawa, Tohru, Tokyo, Japan, Miyamura, Tsuyoshi, Itagaki, Hiroshi, Yokohama, Japan, Mitsuma, Shinsuke, Higashimurayama, Japan, and Matsui, Sosuke, Machida, Japan, for “reordering files.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method includes, for files in a storage system requested in sequence by an application, identifying a pre-file and identifying a post-file requested after the pre-file. The method also includes incrementing a pre-read count for the pre-file in file attributes associated with the pre-file and incrementing a post-read count for the post-file in file attributes associated with the post-file. The method includes selecting a position in a save list for each file based on the pre-read and post-read counts and saving the files on tape media according to the relative positions of the files in the save list. A computer program product includes one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media. The program instructions includes program instructions to perform foregoing method. A system includes a processor and logic configured to perform the foregoing method.”

The patent application was filed on 2020-12-10 (17/118338).

Locating data within tape systems using sub dataset headers
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (11635914) developed by Miyamura, Tsuyoshi, Yokohama, Japan, Masuda, Setsuko, and Tanaka, Keisuke, Tokyo, Japan, for “locating data within tape systems using sub dataset headers.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method of writing a dataset to a tape, the dataset comprising a plurality of sub datasets, each sub dataset including a plurality of headers and a plurality of records. The method includes storing, in each header of each sub dataset, at least a portion of a record range indicator indicating a range of records included in the dataset.”

The patent application was filed on 2020-07-30 (16/942959).

Recalling files from tape
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (11625184) developed by Hasegawa, Tohru, Tokyo, Japan, Miyamura, Tsuyoshi, Itagaki, Hiroshi, Yokohama, Japan, Abe, Atsushi, Ebina, Japan, Yamamoto, Noriko, Mitsuma, Shinsuke, Tokyo, Japan, for “recalling files from tape.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Embodiments are disclosed for a method. The method includes migrating a file to a newer tape. The file is previously recalled by a linear tape file system (LTFS) from an older tape. The method also includes updating a stub for the file with metadata describing the newer tape, the older tape, and the file. Further, the method includes recalling the file using a tape selected from a plurality of potential tapes identified by the metadata.”

The patent application was filed on 2021-09-17 (17/478000).