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40
Media Recognition System (MRS)
About the DDS data cartridge
frames have been written. Any frame can be rewritten multiple times to provide for
skipping over bad areas on the tape.
Excessive consecutive rewrites typically signal a degraded media condition; in these
cases it is best to discontinue use of the tape in question and continue with a new
tape.
During a read or restore operation, the threshold level is reduced to maximize the
likelihood that data can be successfully retrieved from tape. The combination of the
elevated read threshold during write and reduced threshold during read ensures that
data is written with the highest possible margin and that recorded data can be read
or retrieved with the highest possible confidence.
The Scorpion 40 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-4 (150 meter), 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 40 tape drive.
The Scorpion 40 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 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 STDMCL).
Scorpion 40 DDS-4 Product Manual, Version A
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