Patent ID: 8654476

Claim:
A method for operating a tape drive comprising a tape medium with a plurality of record groups stored thereon, the method comprising: providing an access sequence for the plurality of record groups; positioning the tape medium for reading a record group in the access sequence before receiving a seek command for the record group in the access sequence; storing the record group in the access sequence on a computer-readable medium after the reading of the record group in the access sequence, wherein the positioning of the tape medium for reading a second record group in the access sequence occurs at least partially during the storing of the record group in the access sequence on the computer-readable medium; selecting a speed at which to move the tape medium during the reading of the record group, wherein if the record group is a first size, a first speed is selected, and if the record group is a second size a second speed is selected the first size being greater than the second size, and the first speed being greater than the second speed; selecting the record group in the access sequence based on which record group in the plurality of record groups has a beginning closest to a current position of the tape medium; and selecting the second record groups in the access sequence based on which remaining record group in the plurality of record groups has a beginning closest to an end of the record group in the access sequence.