Patent ID: 7486462

Claim:
A tape storage library comprising: a plurality of tape cartridges each substantially housing a tape medium with a known storage capacity, said known storage capacity comprising consumed storage space and available storage space wherein said consumed storage space contains previously stored user data and said available storage space is available for storing new user data, and wherein each of said tape cartridges possesses an associated auxiliary memory device; at least one tape drive capable of cooperating with each of said plurality of tape cartridges to write said new user data to said tape medium housed in each of said tape cartridges and capable of transferring knowledge of said available space to said auxiliary memory device associated with each of said tape cartridges; a designated memory device for receiving and storing said knowledge from said auxiliary memory device associated with each of said tape cartridges; and an informing means for providing collectively said knowledge of said available storage space for at least two of said plurality of tape cartridges to a user of data.