RE: Shared tape drive for 2 LPARs

This is a multipart message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Howard,

I wonder if the question is being understood by all interested parties.

Not that this is what the originator is proposing, but I think what
someone wondered is similar to the following.
Here at Dekko we have multiple iSeries.  We have two 3590's, two 3581's
and a host of 1/4" cartridges, (not to mention the special purpose 8mm's,
9348).
On one of these 3590's we have two cables.  One goes to one iSeries - the
other cable goes to another iSeries.  To use this on one machine you vary
it off on one and vary it on on the other.

I suppose you could duplicate enough hardware to do this in a LPAR
solution.  After all, all you would need is one additional card to drive
the 3590.

So this leaves you some options:
Buy the additional hardware to share tape drives
Buy additional tape drives
Buy additional software to not have to buy another card or cable
Roll your own software to not have to buy another card or cable
Convert to paper and pencil
Which method you choose is often a business decision.  (Although the
roll-your-own sometimes involves copious quantities of stubbornness.
(Replaced testosterone with stubbornness to avoid some people thinking I
was saying male intelligence, and, to also stop slamming members of my
gender.))

Rob Berendt
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin