LTFS tapes must be formatted with a unique 6 character code. The code can have the letters A-Z and numbers 0-9 in any order, for example 123456, ABCDEF, YO1234, 17376A. The tape barcode label is 8 characters, which is the user selectable 6 characters with either L5, L6, L7, M8, L8 or L9 on the end for LTO-5, LTO-6, LTO-7, LTO-M8, LTO-8 or LTO-9 tapes. For example 123456L5, ABCDEFL6, YO1234L6, 17376AL7. The six characters from the label must be used for the six digits when formatting.
Do not add any checksum or check digit.
It's best to use barcode labels for all tapes, this means that they can be used with an LTO library. Also barcode labels are an easy way to identify tapes.
Do not use the same 6 characters for copies of tapes
Always make two copies of all material. One Main and one Safety (or clone) tape.
YoYotta will decode the barcode and show Main or Safety when selecting destination tapes, this can be ignored if you are not using one of the conventions below.
There are three suggested conventions for labelling main / safety tapes.
Odd/Even numbering YT0111, 127633, XTM127 are main tapes and YT0112, 127634, XTM128 are the matching safety tapes.
A-M / N-Z as the 5th letter HRSMDA, HRSMDB and HRSMDC are main tapes, HRSMQA, HRSMQB and HRSMQC are the matching safety tapes. This method allows 4 letter project codes (in this case HRSM) and 13x26 main and 13x26 safety tapes.
A/B as last character ABC12A, YY100A, H2122A, SHOW1A and 12567A are main tapes, ABC12B, YY100B, H2122B, SHOW1B and 12567B are the matching safety tapes.
After formatting you cannot change this label, as it is written into each index on the tape and also written to the chip inside the tape. To change the label you have to reformat the tape.
In Europe we can supply LTO tapes at great prices with custom YoYotta labels printed on durable plastic. They have a standard barcode, plus you can add unique text labels on the left as shown opposite. So you can clearly label Main and Safety, or add a project ident. Unlike other labels each tape can have a different code, you are not limited to a set sequence.
IBM make all LTO-7 and LTO-8 mechanisms, so we supply IBM Barium Ferrite tapes for perfect compatibility.
Contact [email protected] for a quote.
