Types of Media Validation Tests

The media validation test type determines the level of verification performed on the tape.

You indicate the type of test to perform when you define a media validation policy or initiate a manual media validation.

Type	Description	Duration
Basic Verify	Verifies that the media is mountable and the media information record (MIR) is valid. The drive simply mounts the media and validates the MIR. This validation detects whether the MIR is unreadable or out of sync and updates the following data attributes for the media: Exchange Recording Technique (recording format used by the drive to write to the media) Media Suspicion Level MB Written (total amount of data written to the media)	~ 2 minutes
Standard Verify	Verifies that the highest-priority areas of the media are readable. The drive verifies records at the beginning of tape (BOT), end of data (EOD), and the outer-most wraps of data written on the top and bottom edges of the tape. This test is not valid for blank tapes.	< 30 minutes
Complete Verify	Verifies that all data records on the media are readable. The drive does a record-by-record verification with no decompression nor decryption. The drive validates data at maximum tape velocity, regardless of the compression ratio used on the media. By default, the validation starting point is the beginning of tape (BOT). For T10000T2 media, you can optionally choose to resume validation from the last verified location, as indicated by the media RFID chip; validations of T10000T1 media must always start at the BOT. This test is not valid for blank tapes.	5 - 9 hours Depends on the starting point, the amount of data on the media, and the drive type.
Complete Verify Plus	Verifies that all data records on the media are readable, including StorageTek Data Integrity Validation (DIV) checking. If the data records on the media include DIV cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes added by the host, the data is decompressed and decrypted. Consequently, this test requires the validation drive to be encryption capable and connected to an Oracle Key Manager (OKM). This test is not valid for drives configured with a FICON interface. By default, the validation starting point is the beginning of tape (BOT). For T10000T2 media, you can optionally choose to resume validation from the last verified location, as indicated by the media RFID chip; validations of T10000T1 media must always start at the BOT. This test is not valid for blank tapes.	5 - 9 hours Depends on the starting point, the amount of data on the media, and the drive type.
Verify and Rebuild MIR	Verifies the MIR and rebuilds it if necessary. The drive first verifies the MIR. If there are errors, the drive finds the last known-good spot on the MIR, then does a high-speed locate to that point on the tape. The drive then does a record-by-record verification with no decompression nor decryption. If the MIR is invalid or out of sync, the drive reads all records, starting from the beginning of tape (BOT), to gather the information necessary to rebuild the MIR, and then rebuilds it. Records are not decompressed nor decrypted. The drive reads the data at maximum tape velocity. You should use this method if there is a corrupt MIR on an exchange. This is significantly faster than rebuilding the MIR with the drive Virtual Operator Panel (VOP).	5 - 9 hours Depends on the starting point, the amount of data on the media, and the drive type.