Volume Pool Monitor

The Volume Pool Monitor (VPM) is an optional method to monitor tape activity for pools of CA 1 managed tapes. VPM is implemented as a subtask of the Common Tape System (CTS) address space. VPM introduces several new components to CA 1. These components include:

VPM subtask of CTS.
A new VSAM KSDS Database, which is known as the VDB (VSAM Database). The database stores volume pools, variables, and alerts that you create.
New ISPF panels that are implemented as a CTS submenu in ISPF. A new choice on the CA 1 Primary Option Menu 5 invokes the new CTS ISPF submenu. With these panels, you can create volume pools, variables, and alerts for processing by VPM.
The ability to create customizable emails and WTOs from the VPM subtask or a new CTSMAIL utility program. Email text is saved in a new partitioned data set, the SEND data set.
Volume pool history records with totals for active, scratch, and out of service tapes are created daily and weekly in the VDB.
The CA GMI user interface has been updated to present the volume pools and pool history records. The interface provides trending capabilities that enable you to manage scratch tapes availability more efficiently.
The daily utilities TMSCLEAN, TMSCOPY, and TMSVMUPD are updated to create variables that you can use to create emails or WTOs. For example, a variable is available to display the count of tapes scratched in the most current run of TMSCLEAN. This information could be sent to the tape librarian in a customized email.

The VPM subtask monitors tape activity to categorize tapes as being in Active, Scratch, and Out of Service status. The subtask maintains a total volume count for the volume pool with a separate count of never used volumes. The VPM subtask updates the volume pool records in the VDB on a user-controlled interval. You can view these records through either a command to the VPM subtask, the CTS ISPF interface, or CA GMI.

The VPM subtask provides quick management capabilities for scratch monitoring. You can also define alerts to notify various personnel through a customized email or a WTO. For example, you can send an email to the tape librarian when a volume pool has fewer than 500 scratch volumes available. The VPM subtask must be active to monitor the alert conditions and to trigger the email or WTO.

Note: For more information, see the Administration Guide, the Programming Guide, the Utilities and Reports Guide, and the Overview Guide.