Optical media formats

 

There are several optical media types and media formats used for the i5/OS^® operating system. The media format is the file system architecture that exists on the media to manage file, directory, and volume information. Writable optical media (such as WORM, erasable, DVD-RAM) is initialized on i5/OS using the Initialize Optical (INZOPT) command. WORM media must use the High Performance Optical File System (HPOFS) format. DVD-RAM media must use Universal Disk Format (UDF). Erasable media can use either HPOFS or UDF depending on the requirements of the user. You can specify the format by using the MEDFMT keyword on the Initialize the optical volume (INZOPT) command. The following topics provide information about the different media formats and a comparison so you can select the media format that best meets your requirements.

• ISO 9660
  This industry standard media format was originally designed to specify the volume and file structures of compact-disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) optical disks, and is a read-only media format.
• High performance optical file system
  High Performance Optical File System (HPOFS) is an IBM-developed media format architecture available to use when initializing optical media.
• Universal disk format
  Universal Disk Format (UDF) is the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) supported subset of ISO/IEC 13346.
• CL command support for media formats
  This topic provides information on using i5/OS commands to save and restore data and some of the restrictions for the ISO 9660, High Performance Optical File System (HPOFS), and Universal Disk Format (UDF) media.

 

Parent topic:

Optical storage

Related concepts
Initializing optical volumes Managing directory- and file-level security Saving and restoring optical media