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Using Tape Devices with Tivoli Storage Manager

This section shows you how to use tape devices with your TSM system. After adding the tape devices to TSM, you can migrate data from disk storage pools to tape storage pools. This section describes the following tasks:

If you want to use a tape management system with TSM see the Administrator's Guide for details.


A Closer Look

Here are some concepts that can help you to set up your tape environment:
Storage pool migration

To prevent disk storage pools from becoming filled with client data, you can specify that client data be automatically migrated to the tape storage pool.

A disk's high migration threshold (default value: 90%) determines when data is migrated. The low migration threshold (default value: 70%) determines when migration stops. Thus data migration from the default backup disk storage pool begins when the pool is 90% full and continues until it is at 70% full or less.

Another default is to cache data (leave the data on the storage pool) even after the data has been migrated. Cached data stays on disk for quick access until the space is needed for new data.

See Administrator's Guide for details.

Mount limit

Mount limit (the number of drives available in a device class) has a default value of 1. The mount limit should be equal to the number of drives of the same type in that library.

Scratch volumes

A scratch volume is a volume that is available for use. The volume is labeled, is either blank or contains no valid data, and is not defined to . You can specify the number of scratch volumes that can request for this pool (MAXSCRATCH parameter in the command or the Maximum scratch volumes field in the GUI). If you do not specify a value, no scratch volumes can be requested, and you must define each volume to be used.

Collocation

Collocation is turned off by default. Once clients begin storing data in a storage pool with collocation off, you cannot easily change the data in the storage pool so that it is collocated. To understand the advantages and disadvantages of collocation, see the Administrator's Guide.

Adding Tape Devices to Your Tivoli Storage Manager Environment

The following scenario shows how to include two IBM 3490 tape devices into the TSM environment. You must assign a device class for the type of tape devices you have and associate that device class with a storage pool:

  1. Classify the devices by device type. It is helpful to choose a device class name that identifies the type of device for which it is intended (in this example, TAPECLASS).


    Admin Command Line

    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |define devclass tapeclass devtype=cartridge -                                   |
    |  format=3490e mountlimit=2                                                     |
    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

    OR
    Web Icon

    1. Expand Device Classes.
    2. Select CARTRIDGE Device Classes.
    3. From Operations, select Define Device Class.
    4. Enter the device class information and Finish.
  2. Define a storage pool named TAPEPOOL for the device class.


    Admin Command Line

    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |define stgpool tapepool tapeclass -                                             |
    | maxscratch=100 collocate=no                                                    |
    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

    OR
    Web Icon

    1. Expand Storage Pools.
    2. Select Sequential Access Storage Pools.
    3. From Operations, select Define Sequential Access Storage Pool.
    4. Enter the storage pool information and Finish.

Preparing Tape Volumes for Use

All tape volumes must have standard tape labels before TSM can use them. You can use tapes as scratch volumes, up to the number of scratch volumes you specified for the storage pool. Using scratch volumes allows TSM to acquire volumes as needed.

You can also use private volumes in a storage pool. You must define any private volumes to TSM, assigning each to a specific storage pool. However, if a storage pool contains only private volumes and runs out of them, storage operations to that pool stop until more volumes are defined. Prepare tape volumes as follows:

  1. Label your volumes with standard labels according to your local procedures.
  2. Define any volumes that are to be used as private volumes. For example, define volume DSM001, which has standard labels:


    Admin Command Line

    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |define volume tapepool dsm001                                                   |
    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

    OR
    Web Icon

    1. Expand Storage Pools.
    2. Select Sequential Access Storage Pools.
    3. Select the storage pool you want.
    4. Select Volumes.
    5. Select Define Sequential Access Volume.
    6. Enter the volume information and Finish.

Including Tape in the Server Storage Hierarchy

Now that TSM can use your tape devices, you can update your disk storage pools so that client data can be migrated to tape. This section describes how to change BACKUPPOOL and ARCHIVEPOOL so that data migrates to TAPEPOOL.


Admin Command Line

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|update stgpool backuppool nextstgpool=tapepool                                  |
|update stgpool archivepool nextstgpool=tapepool                                 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OR
Web Icon
  1. Expand Storage Pools.
  2. Select Sequential Access Storage Pools.
  3. Select the pool to be updated.
  4. Select Update Sequential Access Storage Pool.
  5. Enter the storage pool information and Finish.

Verifying the Tape Device Environment

To verify that the tape media have been integrated into your TSM system, migrate data from a disk storage pool. Migration from a storage pool requires tape mounts. The mount messages are directed to the console message queue and to any administrative client that has been started with either the mount mode or console mode option.

Trigger migration from a disk storage pool (BACKUPPOOL, for example) by setting the high and low migration thresholds to 0:
Admin Command Line

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|update stgpool backuppool highmig=0 lowmig=0                                    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

After migration occurs, reset the thresholds to their original settings:

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|update stgpool backuppool highmig=90 lowmig=70                                  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OR

To migrate data from a disk storage pool and, after migration occurs, to reset the thresholds to their original settings, update the storage pool:
Web Icon

  1. Expand Storage Pools.
  2. Select Sequential Access Storage Pools.
  3. Select the pool to be updated.
  4. Select Update Sequential Access Storage Pool.
  5. Enter the storage pool information and Finish.


A Closer Look

Controlling when migration occurs

To migrate from a disk storage pool to a tape storage pool, devices must be allocated and tapes must be mounted. For these reasons, you may want to ensure that migration occurs at a time that is best for your situation. You can control when migration occurs by leaving the high migration threshold set to 100 most of the time, and lowering it when you want migration to occur.

In the preceding step, you lowered both migration thresholds to 0 to verify that migration occurred. You may not want to empty the disk storage pool by setting the low migration threshold to 0 every time you want migration to occur. Normally, you may want to keep the low threshold at 40%, and vary the high threshold from as high as 90% to as low as 50%. See Administrator's Guide for details.


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