CA TLMS provides two fields in the Volume Master File (VMF) to track the residency of tapes in ATLs and virtual tape systems and a third field used by virtual tape solutions to record the physical volume serial number that a virtual tape is written to when exported.
The Automatic Tape library type identifies the manufacturer (IBM, STK, and others) and identifies if the ATL is a virtual tape system. Specific bit settings are defined for the leading robotics and virtual tape vendors. A partial list follows; the complete list is defined in Appendix D in the User Guide for TAPEDB field ROBOT_TYPE. This field is zero if the volume is not in an ATL.
Automatic Tape Library device number - is used to distinguish between multiple robots of the same type in the installation. This field is assigned by the customer. Typically, if an installation has three robots of the same type they are assigned the identifiers 1, 2, and 3. They could however be assigned any number up to 254.
Actual volume serial number, also described as the container volume serial number - is used to record the physical volser that one or more virtual volumes are written on. This field is not used for basic ATL support and is updated only when the volumes are exported from the virtual tape system.
The ATLNUM and ATLTYP fields can be displayed using the DVA command and updated with the UPV command. The ACTUAL_VOLSER field is updated internally within robotic interface processing only. The ACTUAL_VOLSER field cannot be updated by the user. These fields are also displayed using CA Earl reports and the CA Vantage GMI interface, however the key updaters of these fields are the user exits provided by CA or the robotic system vendor. These exits are invoked when volumes are entered into or removed from the library to provide up to the minute status on volume residency. CA TLMS does not update these fields. They are updated only if the entry and eject exits are installed.
The CA TLMS Tape Retention System (TRS) alters its processing for both real and virtual tapes that are in ATLs. As TRS processes the retention schedule for a tape, it does not prevent movement because the tape is in an ATL. Instead, TRS creates a "Move Report" entry which shows the tape moving from its location with the "cabinet/slot" as follows:
For a physical tape the TO location has a cabinet/slot assigned for the tape. VTS and VTX tapes have no cabinet/slot assigned and are shown as VTS or VTX. This continues through the retention schedule.
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