A system and method for performing a search operation within a sequential access data storage subsystem are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a data storage subsystem is provided which comprises a search module and a communication channel interface to communicatively couple the data storage subsystem to a host data processing system via a communication channel. In the described embodiment, the search module is configured to receive search attribute data from the host data processing system via the communication channel interface, where the search attribute data specifies a search attribute. The search module is further configured to perform a search operation on data of a sequential access storage element utilizing the search attribute and to provide search result data to the host data processing system via the communication channel interface in response to a performance of the search operation.