Media Recognition System (Mrs); Dds Data Cartridge - Seagate STD124000N Product Manual

Theory of Operations

Media Recognition System (MRS)

DDS Data Cartridge

Product Manual
The Scorpion 24 tape drive includes support for the media recognition system
(MRS), which is unique to DDS products.
The MRS refers to a series of alternate opaque and clear stripes at the beginning of
each tape. These stripes are used to classify the media as data or computer grade,
rather than audio grade media.
Internal to the drive is a system of optical sensors and electronics to identify the
MRS stripes to determine whether the tape is computer-grade media. The MRS
capability can be enabled or disabled using the drive's dip switch. When enabled,
the drive does not allow any write operations to any non-MRS tape cartridges.
All DDS-3 (125 meter), DDS-2 (120 meter) and DDS (90 meter) tape cartridges
have MRS striping to signal that they are computer grade media. DDS (60 meter)
cartridges may or may not have the MRS striping.
All DDS tape cartridges with the MRS striping either have the MRS logo, the MRS
acronym or media recognition system printed on them to readily distinguish them
from audio-grade media.
Audio-grade media is not suitable for data or computer backup purposes. It is not
recommended for use in the Scorpion 24 tape drive.
The Scorpion 24 tape drive is designed to use data-grade DDS cartridges, which
comply with the specifications in the 3.81-mm Helical-Scan Digital Computer Tape
Cartridge for Information Interchange, ANSI X3B5/89-156 standard. Seagate
recommends Seagate-qualified, data-grade DDS DAT cartridges (Model M31300,
60 meters; Model M32000, 90 meters; and Model 34000, 120 meters, Model
324000, 125 meters) to ensure optimal data integrity and reliability.
Seagate also recommends the use of a Seagate-qualified DDS head-cleaning
cartridge (Model M7301).
Note. Proper maintenance of the drive requires that you use the DDS head-
cleaning cartridge after every 25 hours of read/write operation and whenever
the rectangular, green cartridge-in-place LED flashes during operation.
Chapter 9 discusses the DDS head-cleaning cartridge in detail.
You can order both DDS data and head-cleaning cartridges from Seagate. They are
packaged in multiples of five.
These small (approximately 2 inches × 3 inches × 0.4 inch) cartridges house
magnetic tape that is 3.81 mm (0.150 inch) wide. The DDS cartridges are slightly
bigger than a credit card. Figure 35 shows the DDS cartridge.
Chapter 8
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