Various embodiments of a tape storage system having a physical control unit configured to support multiple logical control units are provided. Each logical control unit supports communication with a single tape drive model type up to a maximum number of drives. A customer obtains a number N of logical control units through purchase, lease or other legitimate avenues. Based on the number of tape drive model types L and the number of tape drives for each type Q.sub.L, the model types are mapped to the N LCUs. In general, mapping priority is given to the newer generation model types and the model types in which the number of attached tape drives Q.sub.L exceeds the capacity M of a single LCU.

Various embodiments of a tape storage system having a physical control unit configured to support multiple logical control units are provided. Each logical control unit supports communication with a single tape drive model type up to a maximum number of drives. A customer obtains a number N of logical control units through purchase, lease or other legitimate avenues. Based on the number of tape drive model types L and the number of tape drives for each type Q.sub.L, the model types are mapped to the N LCUs. In general, mapping priority is given to the newer generation model types and the model types in which the number of attached tape drives Q.sub.L exceeds the capacity M of a single LCU.

A tape storage system having a physical control unit configured to support multiple logical control units is provided. Each logical control unit supports communication with a single tape drive model type up to a maximum number of drives. A customer obtains a number N of logical control units through purchase, lease or other legitimate avenues. Based on the number of tape drive model types L and the number of tape drives for each type Q.sub.L, the model types are mapped to the N LCUs. In general, mapping priority is given to the newer generation model types and the model types in which the number of attached tape drives Q.sub.L exceeds the capacity M of a single LCU. An exception being that the oldest model type is ensured a mapping to an LCU. The LCUs may be reconfigured and the model types remapped on the physical CU if the customer adds different model types to the storage system or obtains a different number of LCUs.

A method of operating a first cache device may include receiving, at the first cache device, a request to send a first asset to a second device; determining whether the first asset is stored at the first cache device; and when the determining determines that the first asset is not stored at the first cache device, obtaining, at the first cache device, the first asset, comparing, at the first cache device, a moving average of a marginal value of the first asset with respect to the first cache device and a characteristic marginal value of the first cache device, calculating a cost associated with the first asset, selectively storing the first asset at the first cache device based on the comparison, and sending the obtained first asset and the calculated cost to the second device.

The disclosure is directed to a system and method for interleaving data utilizing a random access buffer that includes a plurality of independently accessible memory slots. The random access buffer is configured to store slices of incoming data sectors in free memory slots, where a free memory slot is identified by a status flag associated with a logical address of the free memory slot. Meanwhile, a label buffer is configured to store labels associated with the slices of the incoming data sectors in a sequence based upon an interleaving scheme. Media sectors including the interleaved data slices are read out from the memory slots of the random access buffer in order of the sequence of labels stored by the label buffer. As the media sectors are read out of the random access buffer, the corresponding memory slots are freed up for incoming slices of the next super-sector.