Oracle's StorageTek Linear Tape File System (LTFS) software improves file access and portability of data on StorageTek T10000 tape or Linear Tape-Open (LTO) technology. LTFS software enables applications to write and retrieve files directly from tape through standard file format interfaces: CIFS or POSIX. Files may also be accessed with ease through a browser or operating system graphical interface. Users can drag and drop files to and from any storage medium: disk, tape, or flash.
Oracle offers two LTFS software solutions. The StorageTek Linear Tape File System, Open Edition (LTFS-OE) software supports a standalone or rack-mountable tape drive and provides users access to all of the files on a cartridge that is mounted to the drive. The StorageTek Linear Tape File System, Library Edition (LTFS-LE) 1.0.4.03 and earlier software supports Oracle's StorageTek SL3000, SL8500, and SL150 tape libraries, managing multiple tape drives and media. (LTFS-LE1.0.4.03 and earlier software versions support Oracle's StorageTek SL3000, SL8500, and SL150 tape libraries. LTFS-LE 1.0.4.04 and later versions only support SL150 tape libraries.) the When a user selects a file, the system's robotics automatically mounts the corresponding tape and the file is made available to that application.
To present a complete file to a user, there are two types of data that need to be stored. First, the file metadata that contains the file structure, file names, file format, and other data elements that are indexed to simplify access to the data on the tape. Second, the file data is the raw file content that is stored on the tape.
A tape that is LTFS-formatted is designed so that it may be split into two partitions. The smaller of the two partitions, at the beginning of the tape, holds all of the file metadata for all of the files on the tape. In the metadata partition, files are stored in a hierarchical directory structure. The rest of the tape, the second partition, is dedicated to data storage, as tape storage has done for decades. Because LTFS is an open format, anyone with a compatible tape drive and the drivers to operate it can read an LTFS tape without an archive application or assistance from any other software. When a piece of tape media is loaded into a tape drive the complete file folder image is displayed, with the file structure being pulled from the first partition and the raw file content being accessed from the second partition. After the metadata from a tape is read, the LTFS-LE software stores a copy of that metadata on the server for faster file access in the future.