Defining a Cartridge Device Class

To define a device class, first complete the following fields and then click Finish, or click Cancel to end the task.

Device Class Name

Enter the name of the device class to be defined. The maximum length of the device class name is 30 characters.

Mount Limit

Enter the maximum number of sequential access volumes that can be simultaneously mounted for the device class. The default is 2.

Drives cannot be shared between device classes.

The following are possible values:

number Specify the maximum number of drives used concurrently. This value can be any number from 0 to 256.

This value must never be allowed to exceed the number of drives that are defined and online in the library that services this device class.

0 The value of zero prevents new transactions from gaining access to the storage pool.

Mount Wait Period

Enter the maximum length of time, in minutes, to wait for a volume to be mounted.

Mount Retention Period

Enter the amount of time, in minutes, to retain an idle volume before dismounting it.

Tape Volume Prefix

Enter the high level qualifier of the file name that the server writes into the media labels. For each sequential access volume assigned to this device class, the server uses this prefix to create the data set name.

Maximum Capacity

Enter the maximum amount of data the server can store in the volumes categorized by this device class. This parameter is optional. The default is 0.

The value must be an integer followed by one of these units:

K Kilobyte
M Megabyte
G Gigabyte

Estimated Capacity

Enter the estimated capacity for the volumes categorized by this device class.

Note: This value is ignored if you specify a value other than 0 in the Maximum Capacity field. If the server uses the value specified in the Estimated Capacity field, this value does not determine the amount of data stored on the volume, but only determines the usage before the volume is filled. After a volume is full, the actual amount of data stored on the tape is used for these calculations.

The value must be an integer followed by one of these units:

K Kilobyte
M Megabyte
G Gigabyte

Expiration

Enter the expiration date that is placed on the tape labels for this device class, which are used for allocation. This parameter is optional.

Possible values are:

yyddd Specifies the expiration date for this device class in YYDDD format.
yyyyddd Specifies the expiration date for this device class in YYYYDDD format.

Retention

Enter a number from 1 to 9999 that defines the length of time, in days, to retain the tape. This parameter is optional.

Compression

Select whether devices in this device class should compress files. The default is Yes.

Yes Specifies that the data for each tape volume is compressed.
No Specifies that the data for each tape volume is not compressed.

Protection

Specify whether RACF, if installed, protects volumes assigned to this device class. This parameter is optional. The default is No.

If protection is provided, RACF profiles are created for the volumes.

Possible values for Protection:

No Specifies that RACF does not protect cartridge volumes assigned to this device class.
Yes Specifies that RACF protects cartridge volumes assigned to this device class. RACF profiles are created for volumes when the server first uses the volumes, but profiles are not deleted when volumes are deleted from the server. Profiles will have to be manually deleted.
Automatic Specifies that RACF protects cartridge volumes assigned to this device class. RACF profiles are deleted when volumes are deleted from the server.

If you specify automatic, volumes deleted from the server will no longer be RACF-protected and the data on these volumes will be accessible by other users.

Unit

Enter an esoteric unit name, up to 8 characters, to specify a group of tape devices that support Cartridge System tape. This parameter is optional. The default is 3480.