2. USAGE GUIDELINES › 2.1 TLM Component Usage Guidelines › 2.1.6 TLM Management Reporting and Policy Creation

2.1.6 TLM Management Reporting and Policy Creation

Tape is an important data storage media for a variety of
data, but not all data is appropriate for tape storage.
Within the tape media storage area, some data is more
suitable for virtual tape storage than traditional.

The Tape Data Set (TMCTMD) file contains a wealth of
information regarding the characteristics (both usage related
and intrinsic) of each tape data set managed by the library.
The TLM component adds additional information, such as "last
use" buckets, that add value to the data already kept by tape
library management systems.

Tape data set usage characteristics can be determined using
the TMCTMD file.  From these usage characteristics, realistic
policies can be created to maximize the effective use of tape
media.  Management level reports can be created to monitor
compliance with policy.

The MICF facility, described in the previous section,
provides automation features that support the creation,
automatic generation, and publication of custom reports.