Statistical Analysis and Reporting System (SARS)

The Statistical Analysis and Reporting System (SARS) helps determine whether read and write errors are caused by the media (tape) or the hardware in the drive. The 3592 microcode contains a Volume SARS (VSARS) algorithm and a Hardware SARS (HSARS) algorithm to analyze errors. SARS algorithms report messages through SIMs and MIMs.

Algorithms are run in the 3592 just before a tape is unloaded. To distinguish error patterns and trends, the SARS volume algorithms require the tape to be mounted on different drives while the SARS hardware algorithms require different volumes to be mounted on one drive. As degraded hardware passes through predefined error thresholds, cleaning and service repair messages or error codes are presented. Similarly, if tape volumes continue to process poorly on different drives, rewrite or discard-media messages are presented.

The SARS reporting of Service Information Message (SIM) and Media Information Message (MIM) functions can be disabled if host software does not support SIMs and MIMs.