Rex Pommier wrote: >Can I force, for example, a set of system backups to get >sent immediately to the passthru tapes as well as the >virtual tapes on the TS7720 itself so I can send a set >of physicals offsite like I do today?
First, a disclaimer: please check with a true storage specialist to confirm everything. I minor in the subject. To my knowledge the answer is yes. I'll point to a couple references that'll help explain the various permutations. First, this 2015 SHARE presentation is quite helpful: https://share.confex.com/share/125/webprogram/Handout/Session17963/Share%202015%20Orlando%20-%20TS7720T%20Tape%20Attach%20Deep%20Dive.pdf In the scenario you describe you'd most likely define both a primary pool and a secondary pool, use both, and the secondary pool would be "Copy Exported." The restore process is called "Copy Export Recovery." IBM has published a rather comprehensive guide on Copy Export features, available here: http://www.ibm.com/support/techdocs/atsmastr.nsf/WebIndex/WP101092 One important caveat: "Copy Export Recovery" restores to a TS7700T (the "T" means with physical tape) at the same or higher release level, and of course with physical media read compatibility. So you need the smart controller in the restore path. It's virtualized-physical, not physical-physical, remember. If you still need a barebones restore capability for media written via your 3592-C06 then one possible approach is to keep your 3592-C06 for a period of time but attach it to a single tape drive. The rest of your gear, including your library, move to TS7700 attachment. So if you've got to write a physical-physical tape that somebody with a 3592-C0x/TS11xx combination needs to read (like you), you can still do that. Of course you won't want to stay with that vestigial equipment forever. I believe it's also possible to "stretch" the distance between your TS7700 and your TS3500, if that sort of approach is helpful. I don't think it's too sensitive to distance (please check), but you need a suitable connection with enough bandwidth and reliability, and probably with DWDM equipment to make that hop. Or for that matter you can "stretch" both together to a remote site. That's still a fairly popular way to get data moved off-site, simply to push the tape/virtual tape off at "arms length" in the distance. As yet another option, you could adopt IBM Cloud Tape Connector for z/OS in conjunction with your TS7700 (in TS7700T configuration or not) and use CTC to run backups into (encrypted) cloud storage off-site. It could be off-site public cloud storage (storage protocols: IBM Cloud Object Storage or Amazon S3) or second-site/private cloud storage meeting the same storage protocol standards. >In the case of backups that need to go offsite, what manages >the physical tapes in the 3584 - is it still my tape >management system on the mainframe or is it some kind of >tape management in the 7720? It's some of both, but it's mostly your TS7720. On the z/OS side you have at least a couple tape pools for your scenario, and you'd have either/both automatic and manual selection of pool(s). Your TS7720 pretty much takes it from there. >Can I use other physical tapes in the 3584 as extra space >for "throwaway" data in the 7720 if I'm running low on cache >(physical disk) in the VTS? Absolutely, and that's a common reason for having physical tape. You can use either/both the "Disk Cache to Tape Content" (CPx/PG1) or "Delayed to Tape Content" (CPx/delayed premigration) approaches. "Delayed premigration" means certain volatile data, such as "scratch" datasets, never makes it to physical tape. Which may or may not be the behavior you want, but it's available and quite often handy. >If I'm using some physicals as just cache extension what >manages these tapes? Does the 7720 or is this still z/OS >TMS? What handles recycling of these tapes? It's almost all in the TS7700. I say "almost" because there are certainly z/OS-based controls for how you're managing storage, such as z/OS DFSMShsm (ML2, etc.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM Z & LinuxONE, Multi-Geography E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
