IBM Linear Tape File System

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Highlights

Simplifies direct access and management of LTO Ultrium 5 tape drives and tape libraries and their data
Incorporates the IBM® Linear Tape File System (LTFS) format standard for reading, writing and exchange of descriptive metadata on LTO-5 certified tape cartridges
Enables tagging of files with any text, allowing for more intuitive searches of cartridge, drive and library content
Built on the LTO Generation 5 Tape format standard for cartridge interchange with LTO-5 certified tape libraries and drives.

Built on the LTO Ultrium 5 format standard, the IBM LTFS provides direct, intuitive and graphical access to data stored in IBM tape drives and libraries using LTO generation 5 tape cartridges. This eliminates the need for additional tape management software to access data.¹

IBM LTFS is the first file system that works in conjunction with LTO generation 5 tape technology to set a new standard for ease-of-use and portability for open systems tape storage. With the LTFS, accessing data stored on an IBM tape cartridge became as easy and intuitive as using a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive. With the file manager, reading data on a tape cartridge is as easy as dragging and dropping. Users can run any application designed for disk files against tape data without concern for the fact that the data is physically stored on tape.

The IBM LTFS adds support for IBM tape automation in addition to the single drive-use IBM LTFS. The library edition allows access to all of the data in a tape library as if it were on disk. It uses the file system’s format and resources of the operating system it is running on to graphically display the contents of a tape library in the operating systems graphical user interface (GUI) format (typically a folder/tree structure).
The metadata of each cartridge, once mounted, is cached in server memory. Metadata operations, such as browse directory and filename search do not require tape movement. The LTFS LE supports LTO generation 5 as well as an IBM TS1140 tape drive in a IBM TS3500 Tape Library.

Product features

Offers the first file system to directly access and manage LTO Ultrium 5 tape drives, tape libraries and their data
Enables tagging of files with any text, allowing for more intuitive searches of cartridge and library content
Built on the LTO-5 Tape format standard
Features 1:1 mapping of tape cartridges to file folders and tape libraries
Provides the ability to create a single file system mount point for a logical library managed by a single instance of the LTFS running on a single computer system
Provides for caching of tape indices, searching, querying and displaying tapes' contents without mounting tapes

Summary

Built on the LTO-5 format standard, the IBM LTFS provides a direct, intuitive and graphical access to data stored in IBM tape libraries using LTO-5 tape cartridges. This eliminates the need for additional tape management software to access data

¹ Previously known as ‘IBM Long Term File System’

Feature	Benefits
GUI	Helps reduce complexity by enabling an icon-based view of an LTO-5 library, including tape cartridges and files using the operating system file manager
Standalone	Helps reduce costs as it does not require any additional tape management software or utilities
Utilises the file system Application Programme Interface (API) of the operating system	Provides a basic read/write interface to the tape library for applications without any additional operating system enhancements like ‘plugins’ or service packs
‘Mountless’ cartridge inquiry for fast access	Once the tape library is inventoried, tape cartridges do not have to be remounted to retrieve content index data or basic cartridge information such as volume name or serial number

LTFS specifications at a glance

*LTFS Single Drive Edition*
Hardware requirements
Tape Systems	IBM System Storage TS2250 TDs (3580S5E) IBM System Storage TS2350 TDs (3580S5X)
Tape media	LTO-5
IBM System x or Intel® servers	For details on supported hardware configurations please refer to the System Storage Interoperation Centre (SSIC)
Apple Macintosh server	For details on supported hardware configurations please refer to the SSIC
Host bus adapter (HBA)	For details on supported hardware configurations please refer to the SSIC
Supported operating systems	Linux® Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.4, 5.5 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 Service Pack 1 Apple Macintosh OS X: 10.5 Apple Macintosh OS X: 10.6 Apple Macintosh OSX: 10.7 Microsoft Windows® 7.0 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Warranty	AS IS software Open Source for Linux and Apple Macintosh Binary Only for Windows

*LTFS Library Edition*
Hardware requirements
Tape Systems	IBM System Storage TS2900 Tape Autoloader Express IBM System Storage TS3100 Tape Library Express IBM System Storage TS3200 Tape Library Express IBM System Storage TS3310 Tape Library IBM System Storage TS3500 Tape Library IBM System Storage TS1140 tape drive support on IBM TS3500 Tape Library
Tape media	LTO-5, IBM 3592 JB, JC and JK
IBM System x or Intel server	For details on supported hardware configurations please refer to the SSIC
Host Bus Adapter (HBA)	For details on supported hardware configurations please refer to the SSIC
Supported operating system	Linux: RHEL 5.5, 5.6 installed SLES 11 SP1 RHEL 5.7, 6.1
Warranty	Multi-year warranty agreement Closed source code