<s>
The	O
Linear	B-Device
Tape	I-Device
File	I-Device
System	I-Device
(	O
LTFS	B-Device
)	O
is	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
that	O
allows	O
files	O
stored	O
on	O
magnetic	B-Architecture
tape	I-Architecture
to	O
be	O
accessed	O
in	O
a	O
similar	O
fashion	O
to	O
those	O
on	O
disk	O
or	O
removable	O
flash	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
requires	O
both	O
a	O
specific	O
format	O
of	O
data	O
on	O
the	O
tape	O
media	O
and	O
software	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
interface	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technology	O
,	O
based	O
around	O
a	O
self-describing	O
tape	O
format	O
developed	O
by	O
IBM	O
,	O
was	O
adopted	O
by	O
the	O
LTO	B-Operating_System
Consortium	I-Operating_System
in	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Magnetic	B-Architecture
tape	I-Architecture
data	I-Architecture
storage	I-Architecture
has	O
been	O
used	O
for	O
over	O
50	O
years	O
,	O
but	O
typically	O
did	O
not	O
hold	O
file	O
metadata	O
in	O
a	O
form	O
easy	O
to	O
access	O
or	O
modify	O
independent	O
of	O
the	O
file	O
content	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
there	O
is	O
the	O
tar	B-Application
interoperable	O
standard	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
is	O
not	O
well-suited	O
to	O
allow	O
modification	O
of	O
file	O
metadata	O
independent	O
of	O
modifying	O
file	O
content	O
data	O
-	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
maintain	O
a	O
central	O
index	O
of	O
files	O
nor	O
provide	O
a	O
filesystem	B-Application
interface	O
or	O
characteristics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LTFS	B-Device
technology	O
was	O
first	O
implemented	O
by	O
IBM	O
as	O
a	O
prototype	O
running	O
on	O
Linux	O
and	O
Mac	O
OS	O
X	O
during	O
2008/2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
feedback	O
from	O
this	O
initial	O
demonstration	O
and	O
experience	O
within	O
IBM	O
the	O
filesystem	B-Application
was	O
overhauled	O
in	O
preparation	O
for	O
release	O
as	O
a	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LTFS	B-Device
development	O
team	O
worked	O
with	O
the	O
vendors	O
of	O
LTO	B-Operating_System
tape	I-Operating_System
products	O
(	O
HP	O
and	O
Quantum	O
)	O
to	O
build	O
support	O
and	O
understanding	O
of	O
the	O
LTFS	B-Device
format	O
and	O
filesystem	B-Application
implementation	O
leading	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LTFS	B-Device
Format	O
Specification	O
and	O
filesystem	B-Application
implementation	O
were	O
released	O
on	O
April	O
12	O
,	O
2010	O
with	O
the	O
support	O
of	O
IBM	O
,	O
HP	O
,	O
Quantum	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
LTO	B-Operating_System
Consortium	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
LTFS	B-Device
v2.0.0	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
March	O
2011	O
,	O
improving	O
the	O
text	O
to	O
clarify	O
and	O
remove	O
ambiguity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
sparse	B-General_Concept
files	I-General_Concept
;	O
persistent	O
file	O
identifiers	O
;	O
virtual	O
extended	O
attributes	O
for	O
filesystem	B-Application
metadata	O
and	O
control	O
-	O
and	O
defined	O
minimum	O
and	O
recommended	O
blocksize	O
values	O
for	O
LTFS	B-Device
volumes	O
,	O
for	O
compatibility	O
across	O
various	O
HBA	O
hardware	O
implementations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standard	O
defines	O
the	O
LTFS	B-Device
Format	O
requirements	O
for	O
interchanged	O
media	O
that	O
claims	O
LTFS	B-Device
compliance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
LTFS	B-Device
v2.2	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
adopted	O
to	O
ISO	O
by	O
a	O
joint	O
technical	O
committee	O
ISO/IEC	O
JTC	O
1	O
Information	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SNIA	O
workgroup	O
continues	O
to	O
develop	O
LTFS	B-Device
and	O
release	O
updates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LTFS	B-Device
Format	O
Specification	O
v	O
2.1	O
is	O
the	O
baseline	O
for	O
the	O
technical	O
work	O
and	O
standards	O
accreditation	O
process	O
;	O
SNIA	O
LTFS	B-Device
TWG	O
members	O
include	O
HP	O
,	O
IBM	O
,	O
Oracle	B-Application
and	O
Quantum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
LTFS	B-Device
can	O
make	O
a	O
tape	O
appear	O
to	O
behave	O
like	O
a	O
disk	O
,	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
change	O
the	O
fundamentally	O
sequential	O
nature	O
of	O
tape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spite	O
of	O
these	O
disadvantages	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
several	O
uses	O
cases	O
where	O
LTFS	B-Device
formatted	O
tape	O
is	O
superior	O
to	O
disk	O
and	O
other	O
data	O
storage	O
technologies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ability	O
to	O
copy	O
a	O
large	O
file	O
or	O
a	O
large	O
selection	O
of	O
files	O
(	O
up	O
to	O
1.5TB	O
uncompressed	O
data	O
for	O
LTO-5	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
18TB	O
for	O
LTO-9	O
)	O
to	O
an	O
LTFS	B-Device
formatted	O
tape	O
,	O
allows	O
easy	O
exchange	O
of	O
data	O
to	O
a	O
collaborator	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
saving	O
of	O
an	O
archival	O
copy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
LTFS	B-Device
is	O
an	O
open	O
standard	O
,	O
LTFS	B-Device
formatted	O
tapes	O
are	O
usable	O
by	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
computing	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tape	O
drives	O
manufacturers	O
often	O
offer	O
two	O
different	O
editions	O
,	O
one	O
for	O
Single	O
Drives	O
and	O
one	O
for	O
Tape	B-Device
Libraries	I-Device
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
LTFS	B-Device
Reference	O
Implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	O
Linear	B-Device
Tape	I-Device
File	I-Device
System	I-Device
-	O
Single	O
Drive	O
Edition	O
,	O
(	O
initially	O
released	O
as	O
"	O
IBM	O
Long	O
Term	O
File	B-Application
System	I-Application
"	O
)	O
,	O
allows	O
tapes	O
to	O
be	O
formatted	O
as	O
an	O
LTFS	B-Device
volume	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
these	O
volumes	O
to	O
be	O
mounted	O
-	O
and	O
users	O
and	O
applications	O
access	O
files	O
and	O
directories	O
stored	O
on	O
the	O
tape	O
directly	O
,	O
including	O
drag-and-drop	O
of	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	O
Linear	B-Device
Tape	I-Device
File	I-Device
System	I-Device
-	O
Library	O
Edition	O
(	O
LTFS-LE	O
)	O
product	O
allows	O
LTFS	B-Device
volumes	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
tape	B-Device
library	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
LTFS-formatted	O
tape	O
cartridge	O
in	O
the	O
library	O
appears	O
as	O
a	O
separate	O
folder	O
under	O
the	O
filesystem	B-Application
mount	O
point	O
and	O
the	O
user	O
or	O
application	O
can	O
navigate	O
into	O
each	O
of	O
these	O
folders	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
files	O
stored	O
on	O
each	O
tape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LTFS-LE	O
software	O
automatically	O
controls	O
the	O
tape	B-Device
library	I-Device
robotics	O
to	O
load	O
and	O
unload	O
the	O
necessary	O
LTFS	B-Device
volumes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oracle	B-Application
's	O
free	O
open	O
source	O
StorageTek	O
Linear	B-Device
Tape	I-Device
File	I-Device
System	I-Device
(	O
LTFS	B-Device
)	O
,	O
Open	O
Edition	O
software	O
is	O
claimed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
store	O
8.5TB	O
(	O
native	O
capacity	O
)	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
cartridge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
Oracle	B-Application
’s	O
midrange	O
StorageTek	O
LTO	O
5	O
and	O
LTO	O
6	O
tape	O
drives	O
from	O
HP	O
and	O
IBM	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Oracle	B-Application
’s	O
StorageTek	O
T10000C	O
and	O
T10000D	O
tape	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oracle	B-Application
’s	O
StorageTek	O
LTFS-LE	O
software	O
offering	O
supports	O
the	O
StorageTek	O
SL8500	O
Modular	O
Library	O
System	O
,	O
the	O
StorageTek	O
SL3000	O
Modular	O
Library	O
System	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
StorageTek	O
SL150	O
Modular	O
Tape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HP	O
Linear	B-Device
Tape	I-Device
File	I-Device
System	I-Device
(	O
HP	O
LTFS	B-Device
)	O
is	O
HP	O
's	O
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quantum	O
Corporation	O
provided	O
an	O
LTFS	B-Device
product	O
with	O
Windows	O
,	O
Linux	O
and	O
Mac	O
OS	O
X	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Scalar	O
LTFS	B-Device
Appliance	O
was	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
that	O
presented	O
a	O
Quantum	O
tape	B-Device
library	I-Device
as	O
an	O
NAS	O
share	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oracle	B-Application
(	O
Sun/StorageTek	O
)	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
involves	O
scanning	O
more	O
than	O
150	O
million	O
discrete	O
DPX	O
files	O
and	O
storing	O
them	O
on	O
LTO	O
Gen5	O
using	O
the	O
LTFS	B-Device
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
LTFS	B-Device
technology	O
received	O
a	O
Pick	O
Hit	O
Award	O
from	O
Broadcast	O
Engineering	O
at	O
NAB	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
and	O
FOX	O
Networks	O
received	O
an	O
Engineering	O
Emmy	O
Award	O
in	O
2011	O
for	O
a	O
project	O
that	O
uses	O
LTFS	B-Device
to	O
store	O
,	O
exchange	O
,	O
and	O
archive	O
video	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
standard	O
version	O
2.5.1	O
,	O
LTFS	B-Device
does	O
not	O
support	O
hard	O
links	O
.	O
</s>
