1) First, make sure that the AS400 will be using a DIFFERENT VOLSER RANGE than your TSM server. I mean, a different range of barcode labels. (If you don't want to buy more tapes, you can always just by a new set of barcode labels, replace some of your current ones, and do LABEL LIBV to reinitialize the tapes. You'' spend about $100 on barcodes, but save yourself a LOT of grief.)
2) The best source of info about categories is the REDBOOK on the 3494, Total Storage Handbook Practical Guide. Go to www.redbooks.ibm.com, search on SG24-4632. It's a huge book, but it has (or at least it used to) some good diagrams of partitioning libraries. You can IGNORE all the info about Z/OS and VTL. Appendix C lists the Category Codes 3) From your TSM command line, enter Q LIBRARY * It will show you the PRIVATE and SCRATCH categories your TSM server is using now. This was set up when someone did your original TSM config, with the DEFINE LIBRARY command. On my TSM server (which is WINDOWS, not SOLARIS, BTW), the categories are 300 for Private, 302 for Scratch. TSM and the 3494 do a handshake and assign this category to a tape when you run a TSM CHECKIN command. 4) If you go to your 3494 Library Manager console and use the Database -> Search function to display some tapes, you will see that your TSM tapes are assigned these categories in the library manager (except they are displayed in HEX). If some other application (like the AS400) tries to mount one of these tapes, the robot will refuse the mount. That's what the categories are for, to keep one application from stomping the other. I don't speak AS400, but when you set it up to use the 3494, you should be able to configure it to use ANY other private & scratch categories other than what TSM is using. 5) THE TRICKY PART: If you put tapes in through the I/O door, they are always assigned the INSERT category (FF00) by the 3494. They sit around waiting for some application to claim them, and the first one to claim them wins. What normally happens, we bring tapes back from our vault, stick them in the door. They go into INSERT category. Once a day we run CHECKIN on the TSM server to check them in as scratch. TSM tells the 3494 it is claiming them, and the tapes are all assigned the category 302 (12E). Whenever TSM needs a scratch mount, the 3494 will pull the least-recently-used tape in category 12E and mount it. THE REASON IT WORKS WORKS is that we ALWAYS do the checkin with the VOLRANGE parameter, telling TSM to CHECK IN only tapes with volsers xxxxxx-yyyyyy. OTHERwise, TSM would claim ANYTHING that is in the robot in insert status, which would include tapes we returned from the vault that actually belong to our Z/OS system. I have NO IDEA how you would make it work, if you don't have separate tape ranges for your TSM server and your AS/400. Hope that helps. Wanda Prather "I/O, I/O, It's all about I/O" -(me) -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Farren Minns Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 8:56 AM To: ADSM-L@VM.MARIST.EDU Subject: Regarding 3494 lib and volume catagories Hi all At the moment our IBM 3494 tape library with 2 internal 3590 H1A tape drives is used by just one TSM server ( running Solaris 2.7 ). But, in the near future I am being asked to make it available for use by another server ( BRMS running on an AS400 ). This is something I know very little about, but am aware that it has something to do with categories within the tape library. So only one server will have access to category 'a' while another will access category 'b' for example ( at least I think it's as simple as that ). But I do not understand exactly where these categories are defined and how to tell TSM not to use volumes of category 'b' for example. I am not worrying about the BRMS side of things as this will be dealt with by another department. Can anyone point me in the direction for some good resources on this and indeed can anyone who already does this give me any advice. Many thanks in advance All the best Farren Minns John Wiley & Sons Ltd ###################################################################### The information contained in this e-mail and any subsequent correspondence is private and confidential and intended solely for the named recipient(s). If you are not a named recipient, you must not copy, distribute, or disseminate the information, open any attachment, or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received the e-mail in error, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail. Any views or opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the individual sender, unless otherwise stated. Although this e-mail has been scanned for viruses you should rely on your own virus check, as the sender accepts no liability for any damage arising out of any bug or virus infection. ######################################################################
