I have never had this situation because our library is large enough. But, I can see how it is possible for Open Systems TSM to checkin a tape it already knows about in the VOLUMES table. I never realized that the TSM implementation did listen for the insert function. However, for tapes not in the volumes table it will not automatically check them in because when tapes are checked out they are removed from the libvolumes table and they are no longer known by TSM.
Sorry to mislead you. Paul D. Seay, Jr. Technical Specialist Naptheon Inc. 757-688-8180 -----Original Message----- From: Thorson, Paul [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 6:40 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: volume management in tsm Hello, Justin, you did not mention your TSM O/S platform, but I can tell you with Solaris or AIX servers TSM will automatically checkin an external tape during a mount request (and use it for processing) once the 3494 library manager has taken the cartridge and moved it from the I/O slot to it's permanent home. I found it a pleasant surprise not to have to reply to the mount request as with other SCSI libraries. You can use the "dsmadmc -mount" console session to keep an eye on these requests. As mentioned below, on S/390 OAM (or TMS) have to take control of the tape first. The idea of using the move media command sounds great - the days parm can help you get the older tapes out, but I have a feeling the split file dilemma is still present. - Paul Paul Thorson Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. Tivoli Specialist - LRS IT Solutions (217) 793-3800 x1704 -----Original Message----- From: Seay, Paul [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 8:44 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: volume management in tsm In an open environment TSM will not automatically checkin the tape, nor does it do the checkin on S/390. OAM does the checkin on S/390. I am betting he is using S/390. And, yes, TSM is then able to mount the tape. If I were a real good C programmer I would write a task to connect to the lmcpd that listens for the the insert function and runs a script passing the volume inserted as the parameter. The script could then be tailored to my business needs. Paul D. Seay, Jr. Technical Specialist Naptheon Inc. 757-688-8180 -----Original Message----- From: Justin Bleistein [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 2:22 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: volume management in tsm yeah that's what I figured. I took particular interest in one of you statements below, when you said that if TSM is calling for a tape mount, all the operator has to do is put a tape in the ATL I/o slots drawer and the robot will take it and check it in to TSM and use it?. Did I read that right? Or do the operators have to physically open of the the 3494 bays/doors and physically mount the tape as if it were manual? --Justin "Thorson, Paul" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > cc: Sent by: "ADSM: Subject: Re: volume management in tsm Dist Stor Manager" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] .EDU> 09/26/2002 12:46 PM Please respond to "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" Justin, I've experienced this on several occasions including having close to 1000 tapes outside of a 3494. Obviously, someone has miscalculated the size necessary to house all your primary storage pool volumes - the easiest solution is to bolt on a couple more 'S' frames on the ATL. TSM will manage the tapes automatically outside of the ATL - there is no need to update their location as 'rack'. If needed, TSM will request a tape volume until the tape is checked in or the "mount wait" of the device class is exceeded. When put in the ATL, the tape is automatically checked in and used by TSM. If the mount wait is exceeded, the tape is then updated to "unavailable" and causes a restore/retrieve to fail and reclamation to move on to the next candidate tape. Predicting which tapes will be reclaimed can be a challenge, since TSM splits files and often needs a highly utilized tape to move a file segment. If you can identify a set of tapes which are full and not expiring too fast and they are not needed to often for restores, you can rotate them out of the ATL. I had the luxury of having tape operators monitor the requests, so we made it work until more slots were installed. That took a bit of training and documentation, but is fairly simple. Regards, - Paul Paul Thorson Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. Tivoli Specialist - LRS IT Solutions (217) 793-3800 x1704 -----Original Message----- From: Justin Bleistein [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 10:52 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: volume management in tsm We are in a bit of a pickle or soon will be anyway.... We have an IBM/3494 atl in our TSM environment. Which has about 1,000 slots in it. These slots are filling and fast. We're trying to make room for more scratch tapes. Now I've tried everything from "move data" to weird "reclaimation" sinareos. And we just can't seem to free up sificiant slots. I had an idea of ejecting all tapes which haven't been written to in a while there just waiting to expire, this way migration or backup storage pool processes won't call for them, and once they're out rack them in the data center and mark there location as: "rack". Now that will free up a ton of spots in the atl. The problem is how can TSM manage those tapes even though they are not in the ATL. I can check them in with check label = no, and just mark there location as: "rack" this way the database will keep updating them. The problem is what if reclaimation runs, now you can't do it because the tapes can't be mounted they're in the rack outside the atl. Unless the robot comes out to get them I don't see how this can work. It seems that trying to come up with a solution to the problem of lack of slots in the atl will just create more of a problem. Any thoughts? Or ideas? on how I can manage these tapes even though they can't be mounted?. P.S. = Yes it is collocated. Let me know if anyone has done this thanks!. --Justin Richard Bleistein
