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Administrator's Guide


The Tivoli Storage Manager Storage Objects

The following storage objects are collections of information that the Tivoli Storage Manager server uses to communicate with devices and to manage media:

An administrator for Tivoli Storage Manager defines these objects.

Device Class

Each device is associated with one Tivoli Storage Manager device class. A device class contains information about the device type and the way the device manages its media. See Chapter 6, Managing Device Classes for more detailed information about device classes.

The Device Class for Random Access Devices

For devices that access data randomly, Tivoli Storage Manager provides a device class named DISK that is already defined and cannot be changed. You cannot define other random access device classes.

Random access device types store data in blocks of storage that can be scattered across the available space on a disk. As the server deletes data that has expired, the space occupied by that data can be reused.

Device Classes for Sequential Access Devices

Tape devices, FILE device types, and SERVER device types are members of the sequential access category of devices. For these devices that access data sequentially, the administrator must define the device class. A device class for a sequential device contains a device type and media management information.

For FILE device classes, data resides in files on the server's disk storage. For SERVER device classes, data resides in the storage of another Tivoli Storage Manager server.

Sequential access device types begin to store data at the beginning of a volume, and append new data after existing data. As data is deleted or expired, the space is not immediately reused. The server can reclaim space later by using the reclamation process (see Reclaiming Space in Sequential Access Storage Pools for details).

Device type
Every sequential access device class requires one of the Tivoli Storage Manager device types as part of its definition. A device type identifies a device as a member of a group of devices that share similar media characteristics. Tivoli Storage Manager provides CARTRIDGE and 3590 tape device types.

FILE is a sequential device type in Tivoli Storage Manager that allows the administrator to create sequential volumes by creating files on disk storage. To the Tivoli Storage Manager server, these files have the characteristics of a tape volume.

The sequential device type called SERVER allows the server to store data on another Tivoli Storage Manager server. This data has the characteristics of a tape volume from the view of the source server. On the target server, this data appears as archived files that belong to a special type of node.

Media management information
Every sequential access device class contains media management information, such as recording format and labeling prefixes.

For more information about how Tivoli Storage Manager helps to manage media, see the following:

Storage Pool

A storage pool is a named collection of storage volumes that are associated with one device class. Each storage pool represents a collection of volumes that are the same media type. For example, a storage pool that is associated with a device class for 3490E tape contains only 3490E tape volumes. You can control the characteristics of storage pools, such as whether scratch volumes are used, by specifying parameters. For details on the parameters, see Chapter 7, Managing Storage Pools and Volumes.

Tivoli Storage Manager supplies default disk storage pools that are named BACKUPPOOL, ARCHIVEPOOL, and SPACEMGPOOL. For more information, see Configuring Random Access Volumes on Disk Devices.

Storage Pool Volume

A Tivoli Storage Manager storage pool volume represents space on media that is available for storing client data. A storage pool volume is associated with a storage pool. For example, 3590 cartridges become storage pool volumes when they are assigned to a Tivoli Storage Manager storage pool.

See Chapter 7, Managing Storage Pools and Volumes for more information about Tivoli Storage Manager storage pool volumes.

Server

To store data in the storage of another Tivoli Storage Manager server, you use a SERVER device type in the device class. You also define a server object to communicate with the target server (where data is actually stored).

When you define a server object to one Tivoli Storage Manager server (a source server), you specify the communication attributes necessary for establishing a connection to another Tivoli Storage Manager server (a target server). The source server can then use the target server as a sequential device for storing data. This data on the target server is one or more archived files that are stored on behalf of the source server.


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