One industry where the linear tape file system (LTFS) has seen the most rapid uptick in its adoption is in the media and entertainment industry. As every film can generate tens, hundreds or even thousands of terabytes that needs to be stored and potentially retained for years and maybe even decades, tape remains the preferred media on which to store it with LTFS emerging as a popular way to store these files so they are accessible using common file sharing protocols such as CIFS. However there are three (3) cautionary notes that organizations should still keep in mind if they opt to go down the path of using LTFS to access data stored on tape.
LTFS first emerged as a file format for tape a few years. As organizations began to switch from using tape as a backup target to using it more heavily in the role of archive, tape vendors needed to provide organizations with a better and more efficient means to access and retrieve that data than going through archival or backup software.
This led to the emergence of LTFS. Using LTFS organizations could write to and retrieve data from tape in much the same way they wrote to and retrieved data from network attached storage (NAS) devices using the CIFS file protocol. While response times are generally slower than if accessing data on disk (it can take up to a minute or longer for a file to be accessed as a tape is mounted and then the tape media positioned to retrieve the file on the tape,) this delay is generally considered acceptable since it should be archival data and infrequently accessed anyway.
It is organizations start to move down this path of adopting LTFS and using tape to store and retrieve their archive data that they should be aware of at least three (3) drawbacks of LTFS.
- No LTFS standard. While multiple tape vendors support LTFS (IBM, HP, Quantum, Spectra Logic, Oracle StorageTek,) there is no LTFS standard. As a result, if you use the LTFS driver provided by one provider (say IBM,) there is no guarantee that the data can be read if the tape cartridge is moved into an HP tape library. Each provider currently uses its own version of LTFS and while there may be substantial similarities between them, no guarantee of compatibility exists.
- No defined process for introducing and supporting new feature functionality. As there is no official LTFS standard, vendors can introduce new features into their version of LTFS at any time. While this encourages innovation, it may also preclude the broader adoption and acceptance of LTFS.
- Mac OS opens all files when reading LTFS. In speaking with a tape library engineer yesterday at one of the NAB booths, he mentioned that one of the quirks of LTFS when it is accessed by a workstation running the Mac OS. When a user on a Mac OS workstation opens a folder in LTFS, the Mac OS then attempts to open all files in that folder. This can cause significant delays and hang-ups, especially if there are large numbers of media files in the folder.
LTFS is a necessary and important advancement toward ensuring tape remains relevant as tape is more widely used for archiving purposes. However organizations should be aware the while LTFS has been out for a few years, it is still considered in the early adoption stage and issues such as the three (3) mentioned above persist.