Dell PowerVault 114x User Manual
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Several operating systems allow for limited data recovery when a file is deleted. This is
achieved by
copying data from the deleted file s
ystem to the trash folder. In the case
of
LTFS the file must be accessed and copied to the trash folder which can take a long
time if the file is large. It is recommended that this feature be disabled as LTFS keeps a
copy of the deleted file on the tape after it is deleted from the displayed file
s
ystem. This
LTFS feature can also be used to back level the file to a previous version if changes were
made to a file and resaved.
Special Considerations
It is recommended that when using consumer applications, such as Microsoft Word
©
,
Excel
©
,
and media players, that files be copied to the local hard drive before usage.
It is
possible to use the files directly from the tape, however a performance degradation
may
be observed in larger systems as a result of the auto
-
save features in many consumer
applications.
Auto-
save writes a temporary copy of the file in use. This temporary file
creation can create a perception of performance degradation when rewriting the
temporary file updates during usage and deleting the file when the application is closed.
Some media players may experience issues with the buffering feature for video as a
result of the high performance of the tape system
actually degrading to a point that
the data stream is not sufficient for the media player. Media players that do not require a
buffering (load an entire file) will not have this issue, but it is still recommended
t
hat the
files be moved locally to the hard disk when the files are only used in a read
-
only
manner.
File Naming Conventions for Optimal Interoperability
The IBM LTFS SDE software has been designed for maximum interoperability. As such a
limitation on file naming conventions has been implemented to ensure file compatibility.
This file compatibility limitation is not due to any limitation of the software itself but a
designed architecture to ensure ease of data exchange.
The file naming convention used by LTFS is the combined limitation of the base
OS
design naming limitations. As such when naming files in any file system it is best
to avoid
special characters. See Table 1 for a short list of special characters to avoid.