System and method for virtual vaulting
US6973369B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 12, 2003 |
| Grant date | Dec 6, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 14, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B15/68
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is a tape library comprising both a small front-end portion and a larger back-end portion. The front-end portion is a visible virtual or physical tape library; and the back-end portion is a large invisible virtual or physical tape vault. The DPA is a typical DPA which only sees the front-end library. If desired, all messages regarding the importing and exporting of tapes are reviewed by an agent. The agent manages the automatic transfer of tapes between the front-end and the back-end, and notifies the user when a manual import or export is needed. This greatly reduces both the amount of hardware required to establish a virtual or physical tape library and also reduces the amount of labor required by a user to physically import and export tapes. If both the front-end library and, the back-end vault are virtual and reside on the same virtual tape library appliance, no data movement is necessary and the tapes can be moved merely by performing small software state changes. In this case, manual operation may be acceptable.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.