a method for reducing the blank spaces resulting from the storage of multiple data blocks on a storage medium . in one embodiment , data is stored on a magnetic tape . data to be written to the tape is partitioned into user data blocks and management data blocks , the user data blocks being written on the tape sequentially in a longitudinal direction in tracks along the tape , and the management data blocks being written in tracks on the tape sequentially in a longitudinal direction that is opposite the write direction of the user data blocks . writing the user data and management data in directions that are inversely related allows the amount of wasted storage space to be reduced .