LTFS
Encyclopedia
Linear Tape File System refers to both the format of data recorded on magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...

 media and the implementation of specific software that uses this data format to provide a file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...

 interface to data stored on magnetic tape. The Linear Tape File System format is a self-describing tape format developed by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 to address tape archive requirements. The LTFS Format specification, which was adopted by the LTO Technology Provider Companies, defines the organization of data and metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...

 on tape - files stored in hierarchical directory structure
Directory structure
In computing, a directory structure is the way an operating system's file system and its files are displayed to the user. Files are typically displayed in a Hierarchical tree structure.-File names and extensions:...

. Data tapes written in the LTFS Format can be used independently of any external database or storage system allowing direct access to file content data and file metadata. This format makes it possible to implement software that presents a standard file system view of the data stored in the tape media. This file system view makes accessing files stored on the LTFS formatted media similar to accessing files stored on other forms of storage media such as disk or removable flash drives.

The Linear Tape File System format is an open description of the layout of data-structures stored on a sequential-access media. These data-structures hold the file content data and associated file metadata. Data media, such as LTO data tape, written using this format can be exchanged between systems that understand the Linear Tape File System format. Software systems that understand the format can provide users with a file system view of the media. Software systems may alternatively understand the format only to the degree that allows the system to read data from the media, or produce a tape that can be accepted by other systems that implement the Linear Tape File System format.

Announcement

The Linear Tape File System format was announced on April 12, 2010, and presented at the National Association of Broadcasters
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...

 (NAB) trade show. This announcement was made in conjunction with announcing the public availability of the IBM Long Term File System software product that uses the LTFS Format.

History

Magnetic tape data storage
Magnetic tape data storage
Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive...

 has been used for over 50 years. Prior to the introduction of the Linear Tape File System format, tapes used in open systems typically did not hold file metadata in a form that is easy to access or modify independent of the file content data. Instead, the tapes often contained files stored in a trivial sequence, without any directories or even filename
Filename
The filename is metadata about a file; a string used to uniquely identify a file stored on the file system. Different file systems impose different restrictions on length and allowed characters on filenames.A filename includes one or more of these components:...

s. Various external databases were used to maintain file metadata (file names, timestamps, directory hierarchy) to hold this data independent of the tape media.

For example, both backup software
Backup software
Backup software are computer programs used to perform backup; they create supplementary exact copies of files, databases or entire computers. These programs may later use the supplementary copies to restore the original contents in the event of data loss....

 and hierarchical storage management
Hierarchical storage management
Hierarchical storage management is a data storage technique which automatically moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-speed storage devices, such as hard disk drive arrays, are more expensive than slower devices, such as optical discs and magnetic...

 (HSM) software typically maintain a database separate from the tape media. This type of software often allows indexing and accessing data spread over entire tape libraries
Tape library
In computer storage, a tape library, sometimes called a tape silo, tape robot or tape jukebox, is a storage device which contains one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold tape cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape cartridges and an automated method for loading tapes...

, but these external databases are generally not designed for interoperability
Interoperability
Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together . The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to...

. Tapes in the system may or may not contain an index of their content. The index format depends on the software used to write the tape and is generally not interoperable with other systems.

In Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....

 systems, the tar
Tar (file format)
In computing, tar is both a file format and the name of a program used to handle such files...

 format is an interoperable standard designed to allow encapsulation of multiple files for tape storage. Tar includes the files content and file-based metadata in a per-file header structure but does not maintain a central index of files. Tar allows one to create self-describing tapes, but does not provide a filesystem interface or characteristics. The tar format is not well-suited to allow modification of file metadata independent of modifying file content data.

The LTFS technology was first implemented by IBM as a prototype running on Linux and Mac OS X during 2008/2009. This prototype was demonstrated at NAB 2009. Based on feedback from this initial demonstration and experience within IBM the filesystem was overhauled in preparation for release as a product. The LTFS development team worked with the vendors of LTO tape products (HP and Quantum) to build support and understanding of the LTFS format and filesystem implementation leading up to the public release. The LTFS Format Specification and filesystem implementation were released on April 12, 2010 and enjoyed the support of IBM, HP, Quantum, and the LTO Consortium.

Format specification

The early versions of LTFS released in 2010 were based on the on-media format described in the "LTFS Format Specification v1.0" document. In March 2011 IBM released an updated document "LTFS Format Specification v2.0.0". The updated specification improved the text to remove ambiguity and clarify the intent of the specification. Additionally, the updated specification extends the LTFS Format to:
  • support sparse file
    Sparse file
    In computer science, a sparse file is a type of computer file that attempts to use file system space more efficiently when blocks allocated to the file are mostly empty. This is achieved by writing brief information representing the empty blocks to disk instead of the actual "empty" space which...

    s,
  • support persistent file identifiers,
  • define virtual extended attributes for filesystem metadata and control, and
  • define minimum and recommended blocksize values for LTFS Volumes. (Primarily for compatibility across various HBA hardware implementations.)


Version 2.0.0 of the LTFS Format Specification defines rules for how the Format Specification version number may change in future and how compatibility is maintained across varying implementations of the specification. In particular, all implementations compliant with version 2.0.0 (and later versions) must correctly read media that was compliant with any prior versions of the LTFS Format Specification. All implementations compliant with version 2.0.0 (and later versions) must write media that is compliant with the "current" version of the LTFS Format Specification. Where the "current" version is the version of the LTFS Format Specification with which the implementation claims compliance. This specifically means that media modified by an implementation compliant with version 2.0.0 of the format specification will implicitly update the media to be compliant with LTFS Format Specification version 2.0.0. (This update only impacts the LTFS Index written to the media by the updated implementation.)

Implementations in compliance with version 2.0.0 (and later versions) of the LTFS Format Specification will correctly read all media generated using prior versions of the LTFS Format Specification.

Support for the LTFS Format Specification version 2.0.0 is included in the open-source implementation of the Linear Tape File System version 1.2.0.
LTFS Format Specification History
Format Specification Version Specification Published Conforming Software
LTFS Format Specification v1.0 April 2010 IBM Long Term File System (LTFS) v1.0.0, v1.0.1
HP Linear Tape File System (LTFS) v1.0.0, v1.1.0
LTFS Format Specification v2.0.0 March 2011 IBM Linear Tape File System - Single Drive Edition (LTFS-SDE) v1.2.0

IBM Linear Tape File System - Single Drive Edition

The IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 Linear Tape File System - Single Drive Edition product is software developed by IBM to implement a tape-based file system using the Linear Tape File System Format. This software implements the LTFS Format and allows tapes to be formatted as an LTFS Volume. These LTFS Volumes may then be mounted using the Linear Tape File System software allowing users and applications direct access to files and directories stored on the tape, including drag-and-drop
Drag-and-drop
In computer graphical user interfaces, drag-and-drop is the action of selecting a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object...

 of files.

Using the Linear Tape File System, files can be created on tape and accessed similar to the process of creating and accessing files on an external hard drive or a USB flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...

. Applications, such as file browsers, image viewers and media players can directly browse and access files on tape. LTFS enables easy and simple use of tapes in desktop computers and embedded systems.

IBM released the first version of the Linear Tape File System product as open source software. This release supports the Linear Tape Open Ultrium 5 (LTO-5) drives. Every release of IBM LTFS - SDE is based on the Linear Tape File System Format Specification developed by IBM and released as an open specification.

Prior to version 1.2.0 the "IBM Linear Tape File System - Single Drive Edition" product was distributed under the product name "IBM Long Term File System".

Operating systems supported by IBM LTFS-SDE

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...

     (RHEL) 5.4, 5.5 with LTFS-SDE 1.2.0 for Linux (latest release: Jun 16, 2011)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a Linux distribution supplied by SUSE and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for servers, mainframes, and workstations but can be installed on desktop computers for testing as well. New major versions are released at an interval of 3-4 years, while...

     (SLES) 11 SP 1 with LTFS-SDE 1.2.0 for Linux (latest release: Jun 16, 2011)
  • Mac OS X
    Mac OS X
    Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

     10.5.6 (Leopard), 10.6.7 (Snow Leopard) with LTFS-SDE 1.2.0 for Mac OS X (latest release: Jun 16, 2011)
  • Windows 7 with LTFS-SDE - Windows version 1.2.0 (latest release: Sept 2, 2011)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
    Windows Server 2008 R2
    Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT 6.1, the same core...

     with LTFS-SDE - Windows version 1.2.2 (latest release: Sept 2, 2011)

IBM Linear Tape File System - Library Edition

The IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 Linear Tape File System - Library Edition (LTFS-LE) product is software developed by IBM to implement a tape-based file system using the Linear Tape File System Format. This software implements the LTFS Format and allows tapes to be formatted as an LTFS Volume. These LTFS Volumes may be used in a tape library
Tape library
In computer storage, a tape library, sometimes called a tape silo, tape robot or tape jukebox, is a storage device which contains one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold tape cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape cartridges and an automated method for loading tapes...

 along with the LTFS-LE software. The LTFS-LE software allows the user to mount the tape library allowing users and applications direct access to all files and directories stored in the LTFS Volumes. When the library is mounted each LTFS-formatted tape cartridge in the library appears as a separate folder under the filesystem mount point. The user or application can navigate into each of these folders to access the files stored on each tape. The LTFS-LE software automatically controls the tape library robotics to load and unload the necessary LTFS Volumes to provide access to the stored files.

IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 Linear Tape File System - Library Edition implements the LTFS Format Specification version 2.0.0. LTFS Volumes produced in LTFS-LE are fully compatible with the open-source LTFS-SDE software product. LTFS-LE is available for all current IBM tape library products.

Operating systems supported by IBM LTFS-LE

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...

     (RHEL) 5.4, 5.5 with LTFS-LE 2.0.0 for Linux (latest release: June, 2011)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a Linux distribution supplied by SUSE and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for servers, mainframes, and workstations but can be installed on desktop computers for testing as well. New major versions are released at an interval of 3-4 years, while...

     (SLES) 11 SP 1 with LTFS-LE 2.0.0 for Linux (latest release: June, 2011)

HP Linear Tape File System

The HP
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

 Linear Tape File System (HP LTFS) is a free open source software application which provides a self-describing tape format based on the LTFS specification from the LTO Technology Provider Companies.

HP LTFS provides users with the ability to access files on an LTO-5 tape using the same commands and operations as that of a disk drive.
With HP LTFS, users can share content across heterogeneous systems without the need for separate application software to read or write data to tape. Because HP LTFS is an open format
Open format
An open file format is a published specification for storing digital data, usually maintained by a standards organization, which can therefore be used and implemented by anyone. For example, an open format can be implementable by both proprietary and free and open source software, using the typical...

, users can be sure that their data is accessible without the need for any proprietary software, making it particularly suited for long-term data archive.

Quantum Linear Tape File System

By Quantum Corporation. Linux and Mac OS X are supported.

LTO drives

  • HP StorageWorks LTO-5 Ultrium 3000
HP LTO5 external half height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS

  • HP StorageWorks LTO-5 Ultrium 3280
HP LTO5 full height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS

  • IBM System Storage TS2250 Tape Drive
IBM LTO5 external stand-alone half height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS interface

  • IBM System Storage TS2350 Tape Drive
IBM LTO5 external stand-alone full height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS interface

  • IBM LTO5 FH FC Tape Drive
IBM LTO5 internal full height tape drive, 8 Gbps Fiber Channel interface

  • IBM LTO5 FH SAS Tape Drive
IBM LTO5 internal full height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS interface

  • IBM LTO5 HH FC Tape Drive
IBM LTO5 internal half height tape drive, 8 Gbps Fiber Channel interface

  • IBM LTO5 HH SAS Tape Drive
IBM LTO5 internal half height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS interface

  • Quantum LTO5 HH SAS Tape Drive
Quantum LTO5 external half height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS interface

  • Quantum LTO5 FH SAS Tape Drive
Quantum LTO5 internal half height tape drive, 6 Gbps SAS interface

Appliances

  • 1 Beyond Wrangler LTO-5 Offload Stations
The 1 Beyond Wrangler LTO-5 Offload Stations is an appliance to store broadcast contend directly on tape via LTFS.

  • Cache-A’s LTO-5 based products
Cache-A Corporation demonstrated one of the early integrations of the LTFS format on LTO Gen5 using IBM's LTFS codebase at NAB
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...

 2010. Cache-A is continuing this development with the HP codebase to provide LTFS-based archive appliances that provide access to this technology without requiring any client-side software.

  • FOR-A LTR-110HS/120HS Video Archive Recorder
The FOR-A LTR-100HS digital video recorder device is using IBM LTFS formatted tape cartridges. It was introduced at the NAB 2010 and won the IBC 2010 Pick Hit Awards from Broadcast Engineering. Its successor is the FOR-A LTR-200HS [AVC-Intra/DVCPRO Model], which supports additional MXF formats.

ISVs supporting LTFS

  • BRU PE
TOLIS Group's BRU Producer's Edition version 2.3.0 provides native LTFS (Linear Tape Filesystem Support) for OS X users.

  • Crossroads' tape-based archive
Crossroads announced on April 11th, 2011, to launch in a new tape-based archive product that leverages the Linear Tape File System (LTFS) technology. This solution will serve as an online archive for tier3(Tertiary storage) data, presenting itself as disk storage, but incorporating both disk for fast file storage and retrieval, and physical tape for cost-effective, long-term capacity storage.

  • FlashNet
SGL(Software Generation Limited) a UK-based broadcast archive software solutions company, was the first Independent Software Vendor
Independent software vendor
Independent software vendor is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing or for niche markets...

 (ISV), which announced their support of LTFS with their FlashNet product.

  • YoYo
The postproduction workflow software suite from YoYotta

LTFS projects

  • Thought Equity Motion
    Thought Equity Motion
    Thought Equity Motion works to increase the value of video content through its technology platform and licensing services. The company works with more than 400 rights holders globally, including BBC Motion Gallery, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, National Geographic, The New York...

    is executing a major film digitization and preservation project for the EYE Film Institute Netherlands
    Eye Film Institute Netherlands
    The Eye Film Institute Netherlands is a film archive in the Netherlands....

    . The project involves scanning more than 150 million discrete DPX files and storing them on LTO Gen5 using the LTFS format. More than 1 petabyte
    Petabyte
    A petabyte is a unit of information equal to one quadrillion bytes, or 1000 terabytes. The unit symbol for the petabyte is PB...

    of film will be scanned and archived over two years (2010–2012).


Industry Recognition

  • IBM LTFS technology received a Pick Hit Award from Broadcast Engineering at NAB 2011.
  • IBM and FOX Networks received an Engineering Emmy Award in 2011 for a project that uses LTFS to store, exchange, and archive video content.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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