Defining storage pool volumes

The following shows how to set up both tape storage pool volumes for an automated library and disk storage pool volumes.

5.8.5.1 Tape

Setting up storage pool volumes for an automated library is done in three stages:

1. Label volumes and check them into scratch pool 2. Check for outstanding mount requests

3. Reply to mount requests and issue labels

Similarly to creating volumes in a disk storage pool, the first step can be done in a one or two step process. The one-step process involves using thelabel libvolumeadministrative command which is available on all non VM, MVS or OS/390 Version 3 or higher platforms. To do it in two-steps, you use the operating systemdsmlabelcommand, followed by thecheckin libvolumeadministrative command. Both methods can be set up to automatically handle labeling a series of tapes, using the library’s dedicated input ports or slots if provided, or searching the regular library slots for appropriate tapes. If your library has a barcode reader the process is even simpler as you can specify options on thedsmlabel

(-barcode) or label libvolume (LABELSOURCE=BARCODE) commands that mean Tivoli Storage Manager will automatically use each tape’s barcode label as its internal label instead of manually prompting for it.

If your library does not support a barcode reader or an automatic search, you may need to manually check for outstanding tape requests and issue a reply to the request number with the label. In this case, you or an operator would also need to be on hand to physically add and remove volumes from the library. You will also need to type in the required label for each volume, or redirect a list of volume names as input to the command.

Label volumes and check them in

The following command searches for tapes in the library named L3570 that are not already defined to Tivoli Storage Manager, and prompts you for a label. It does not overwrite any tapes that have been labeled already, and it does not re-label any tapes already checked in.

tsm: TSM010> define stgpool offdirs coffsite pooltyp=copy reclaim=100 \ cont> maxscratch=10000 reusedelay=5

ANR2200I Storage pool OFFDIRS defined (device class COFFSITE).

tsm: TSM010> define stgpool offdata coffsite pooltyp=copy reclaim=100 \ cont> maxscratch=10000 reusedelay=5

ANR2200I Storage pool OFFDATA defined (device class COFFSITE).

tsm: TSM010> query stgpool pooltype=copy

Storage Device Estimated Pct Pct High Low Next Pool Name Class Name Capacity Util Migr Mig Mig Storage

(MB) Pct Pct Pool

--- --- --- --- --- ---- ---

---OFFDATA COFFSITE 0.0 0.0

OFFDIRS COFFSITE 0.0 0.0

Check for outstanding mount requests

To see if there are any pending mount requests, use thequery requestcommand.

Or, you can check the activity log to find out the number to reply to this request.

Here we see the ANR8809I message, which is followed by the request number (⁰⁰⁴).

Reply to mount requests and issue labels

To label a tape we need to reply to this message. The following command replies to request number 4 and issues a label name of V00001 to the tape volume.

Tivoli Storage Manager continues searching through the library for non-defined tapes and continues issuing requests for labels. For this example, we had three volumes, and cycling through the procedure above, we labeled and checked them into the scratch pool.

tsm: TSM010> label libvolume l3570 search=yes labelsource=prompt checkin=scratch \ cont> overwrite=no

ANS8003I Process number 8 started.

tsm: TSM010> query request ANR8352I Requests outstanding:

ANR8809I 004: Please provide the label name for the volume in slot element 32 of library L3570 by issuing REPLY n LABEL=xxx within 59 minutes, where n is the re quest ID and xxx is the desired label name.

tsm: TSM010> query actlog begintime=-00:01

Date/Time Message

--- ---02/09/00 16:56:14 ANR8352I Requests outstanding:

02/09/00 16:56:14 ANR8809I 004: Please provide the label name for the volume in slot element 32 of library L3570 by issuing REPLY n LABEL=xxx within 59 minutes, where n is the re quest ID and xxx is the desired label name.

tsm: TSM010> reply 4 label=V00001 ANR8499I Command accepted.

tsm: TSM010> query libvolume

Library Name Volume Name Status Owner Last Use Home Element --- --- --- --- ---

---L3570 ALF007 Scratch 32

L3570 CLA001 Scratch 33

L3570 DAN001 Scratch 35

If you label volumes incorrectly and wish to re-label them, you will need to check the volume out of the library.

Note:

5.8.5.2 Disk

The size of the volumes you create depends on the values you decided are necessary in your initial planning. The values used below are small and are intended to be used only as an example.

When deciding how many volumes to use, consider this. It may be better to use a large volume to cover most of the expected storage pool size and then some smaller volumes to allow yourself flexibility in reassigning volumes to different storage pools as the need arises.

An example of this strategy could be to increase the size of the archive pool for monthly archives. In this case, you could migrate the backup random access storage pool to its next sequential storage pool. Redefine some of the backup storage pool volumes as archive pool volumes, complete the monthly archive, and back up the pool to offsite. You can then reassign volumes to their original state. This is just one example of how you can more efficiently use the resources at your disposal, since having a number of volumes in your storage pool allows you to redefine the volume or volumes to cover the extra capacity you need.

An alternative strategy is to define a number of volumes, all of the same size, since when writing backup or archive data to a disk pool, Tivoli Storage Manager will automatically use all the storage pool volumes concurrently, rather than filling up each volume in turn.

The process of adding a new storage pool volume consists of two steps:

1. Format the volume using the DSMFMT utility

2. Define the volume to Tivoli Storage Manager using thedefine volume command

In a non VM, MVS or OS/390 Version 3 or higher platform, those two steps can be combined into a single process: you format the volume and immediately define it in Tivoli Storage Manager by using thedefine volumecommand using the

FORMATSIZE option. We recommend that you use the one-step method if it is available.

The following commands show how to format and allocate a volume for each of two storage pools:

1. Format a data volume named file01 under the/tsm/stgpooldirectory. The size is specified in MB and in this case is 200 MB. It then assigns the volume to the disk storage pool DISKDATA.

2. Format a data volume named dirs01 under the/tsm/stgpooldirectory of size 64 MB. It then assigns the volume to the disk storage pool DISKDIRS.

There is a guide for sizing the DISKDATA storage pool in the planning chapter, but the DISKDIRS storage pool must be treated differently. The size of this pool depends largely on the types of directories you backup. Netware directories, because of the many trustee directory assignments, take more space than Windows NT directories, which have fewer options for access permissions on their directory structure. At the other end of the scale, UNIX directories without access control lists (ACLs) may all be saved directly in the Tivoli Storage Manager database, and will not increase the space utilization percentage of the DISKDIRS storage pool.

We recommend that you initially choose a capacity of 64 MB or 128 MB. The OFFDIRS storage pool is also small and is likely to use part of one volume.

However, the advantages of fast restores—in case of disaster—outweigh this small inefficiency.