Abstract: In one form of the invention, a method for authorizing distribution of a telephone recording includes announcing for a first message-recording apparatus that a telephone caller can record a message. The message is recorded by the first message-recording apparatus, and a key is automatically associated with the message. The key authorizes transferring the message to a second message-recording apparatus.

Abstract: The present invention describes a facility which may be used in conjunction with SmartCard technology. Application Protocol Data Units (APDUs) are used to communicate with SmartCards. The management of these units is the primary focus and advantage of this facility. Smartcard environments can require that the APDUs conform to an environment specific format, and they can have different methods of sending information to and from a SmartCard. Other tools exist which assist in creation of ADPUs for SmartCard communication, but they are most likely tied to a single SmartCard environment. Application Protocol Data Unit—Management Facility (AMF) has numerous advantages over other APDU generation tools and are described.

Abstract: The invention is a system, method, and computer readable medium for determining which copy of data to access in an information handling system. Since the same data is often stored in more than one storage location (e.g., on more than one physical volume or disk, or in more than one memory area), it is often more efficient to read a particular copy of the data. The present invention determines which copy of the desired data can be read most efficiently (i.e. in the least amount of time), and then accesses that particular copy of the data. In an embodiment of the invention, when a read request is received, each mirrored disk (i.e. copy) containing the requested data is checked to determine which disk contains the fewest relocated blocks within the desired read area. The data is then read from the mirrored disk with the fewest relocated blocks within the read area.