Abstract: A technique for reducing the access time in a storage system having serially accessible media. One or more duplicate copies of data are maintained at different offset locations on serial media. When a request is made to read the data, a determination is made as to which copy of the data—either the original data or one of the duplicate copies—will have the shortest access time for accessing the data. Generally, this would be the data copy that will be closest to the data transducer when the tape is positioned for access, such as a tape cartridge being loaded in a tape drive. Once the tape is ready to be accessed, the tape is positioned to access the copy of the data that is in closest linear proximity with the reading transducer. Thus, the copy of the data having the lowest access latency is chosen to satisfy the particular I/O request.

Abstract: A storage device is described for reading data from a hard disk drive wherein delays due to rotational latency are substantially reduced. The storage device includes a platter having a substantially planar annular surface with a geometrical center. On the platter are a plurality of generally arcuate concentric tracks. Each of the tracks is divided into a plurality of sectors that are radially outwardly disposed from the geometrical center of the platter and are bounded by radii extending from the geometrical center. Original data is written on at least one of the sectors. Further, a copy of the original data is maintained at a fixed azimuth angle from the original data during rotation of the platter about the center.

Abstract: The entry and editing of position-sensitive data such as character strings is accomplished via a two-phase system. In the first or "definition" phase, position-sensitive data, which may be or include words or phrases, is identified. In addition, positional rules for formatting and/or substituting the data (such as text for each word or phrase) are either defined or selected from a pre-existing list. In the second or "edit/update" phase, the document being edited or updated is scanned to locate such position-sensitive data, which may include the words/phrases. The positional relationship between respective words/phrases or other data in a particular group is utilized to determine which rules to apply when modifying the document, in order to automatically reformat or substitute new data such as a new character string.