Patent ID: 8666230

Claim:
A system that facilitates backwards compatibility with respect to a multi-format media component having data stored thereon in at least two disparate formats, comprising: a format transition component configured to restrict access to at least a subset of the data stored on the multi-format media component until a desired authentication between a host and a drive occurs and to enable backwards compatibility between the at least two disparate formats, a first physical layer of the multi-format media component being rewriteable and conforming to a first format of the at least two disparate formats, and a second physical layer of the multi-format media component being read-only and conforming to a second format of the at least two disparate formats, the first format backwards compatible with the second format and the second physical layer being read-only to inhibit data associated with the second format and referenced by data associated with the first format from being overwritten to facilitate the backwards compatibility; and a format detection component configured to employ a multi-session technique to organize the first format and the second format, the first format organized into a first session comprising a first set of logical block addresses (LBAs) and the second format organized into a second session comprising a second set of LBAs, the first set of LBAs and the second set of LBAs part of a single LBA addressing range.