Sony, Compaq, Hp And Veritas Software Endorse Auxiliary Memory Standard For Enhanced Tape Data Access And Management - Industry Trend or Event

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Oct 9, 2000

Sony Electronics has announced that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved a new, tape media Auxiliary Memory (AM) content and interface standard.

Four companies (Sony Electronics, Compaq Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company and VERITAS Software Corporation) collaborated to develop and submit the proposal to ANSI last year in an effort to offer a specification that promotes a common interface method for applications software to better utilize this hardware feature, and to enhance tape data access, data management and media management. Sony's implementation of Auxiliary Memory is contained in its Memory-in-Cassette (MIC) architecture introduced with the AIT technology in 1997.

MIC contains System Log pages that capture significant media and data integrity statistics, such as load counts, access counts, and error correction counts (ECC). MIC, together with the new ANSI standard, provides host applications with a "line of sight" to these important statistics regarding the integrity of the media and its contents.

With the standardized Auxiliary Memory interface specification, media management software can utilize this information and proactively take action to enhance the future protection of users' stored data. In addition, the data stored in the MIC stays with the media, regardless of the system or application being used, thereby providing a built-in, permanent "legacy" of prior use or performance.