Patent ID: 7779200

Claim:
A method for a tape storage system to adaptively handle Space commands sent from a host computer system, said method comprising: in response to a Space command from said host computer system, determining whether or not said Space command is for a forward direction; in a determination that said Space command is not for a forward direction, performing a backward space operation; in a determination that said Space command is for a forward direction, determining whether or not said tape storage system is in a Read mode; in a determination that said tape storage system is in a Read mode, comparing an estimated cost for performing a special read operation at least partially based on feedback from the tape storage system of at least one previously performed special read operation to an estimated cost for performing a normal space operation for said Space command at least partially based on feedback from the tape storage system of at least one previously performed normal space operation; performing a special read operation when the estimated cost for performing a special read operation is lower than the estimated cost for performing a normal space operation for said Space command; and performing a normal space operation when the estimated cost for performing a special read operation is higher than the estimated cost for performing a normal space operation for said Space command, wherein said performing a special read operation further includes discarding all data read during said special read operation without transferring the data read during said special read operation to said host computer system.