Re: BRMS sharing 1 tape between 2 systems

Evan,

If they are willing to consider a tape library, you might consider a VTL
with the current tape technology to create mylar tape if needed. Over a
three year period when you take into account the tape carts,
maintenance, speed, etc. the VTL starts to be competitive. IBM,
CrossRoads, and others all build units that will work in the environment
you are describing.

Jim Oberholtzer
Chief Technical Architect
Agile Technology Architects


On 5/7/2013 2:17 PM, Evan Harris wrote:

Hi Paul

Thanks, you have confirmed what I suspected.

I can think of a lot of good reasons for BRMS to do this, but my customer
is going to find it slightly inconvenient.

Maybe I can finally get them to think about a tape library.


On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 12:39 AM, Steinmetz, Paul<PSteinmetz@xxxxxxxxxx
wrote:

Tapes can easily be shared between systems, but the 1st system to

use a

tape becomes the owner of that tape. That tape can then only be used

by

that system. Once its expired, the ownership can change.
Also, you can only APPEND to tapes owned by that system.

I wanted to do same scenario, could be done, per IBM.
BRMS append rules below.

When you select *YES at the Append to media prompt, BRMS takes the
following steps to select the
volumes to append:
v When selecting volumes for media libraries, BRMS determines if

the

last volume that is used
can also be used for the append operation. The media class is the
determining factor. When
selecting volumes for stand-alone drives, BRMS issues message

BRM1472,

which nominates suitable
candidate volumes.
v BRMS selects an active volume with attributes that match those

in the

appropriate media
policy. BRMS
uses the following to check if the volume is available for appending:
- Same media class
- Same storage location
- Same expiration date
- Owned by the requesting system
- Same move policy
- Same secure attribute
v

-----Original Message-----
From:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Ofrob@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 8:20 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: BRMS sharing 1 tape between 2 systems

Jack's email seems to indicate that what BRMS is trying to do is to
communicate with the other system and ask it "are you done with all

the

data on this tape? Like, is it expired? And, if so, may I use it

on my

system?". I can see BRMS doing that.

If it's standalone, how do you share it between systems? Dynamic

lpar I/O

move?

Can a virtual tape be used? If so, will a DUPMEDBRM support

appending?

And, will it support appending to a tape also used by another system?

My guess is that you have two or more lpars. They don't fill up a

single

tape each. You'd like to combine them together so that when you

ship them

offsite you can minimize the number of tapes tied up in a
father/grandfather/etc situation. Interesting. Good luck. If you

can't

figure it out open up a question pmr with IBM. If they tell you

it's not

currently supported open up a DCR. Sounds reasonable. If anyone

can keep

track of which tape contains which object from which system after

all that,

it will be BRMS.


Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600

Mail

to: 2505 Dekko Drive
Garrett, IN 46738
Ship to: Dock 108
6928N 400E
Kendallville, IN 46755
http://www.dekko.com





From: Evan Harris<auctionitis@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion<

midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,

Date: 05/07/2013 02:49 AM
Subject: BRMS sharing 1 tape between 2 systems
Sent by:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx



I'm working on a site running V7R1 TR6 that uses BRMS to manage their
backups. BRMS networking is set up and active and media can be seen
between
systems,

They have a scenario where they want to backup 2 guest partitions to

a

single tape. They only have standalone tape drives available, no tape
library.

- The drive is available on the second system
- The media class is set to SHARE YES.
- The backup control group specifies APPEND *YES

Backups fails with message BRM1518 Volume xxx cannot be used on this
system.

Second level text provides additional information that "media

management

indicates that the volume is not to be shared between systems" and
provides
details of the back on the first partition.

Is it actually possible to do what the customer wants to do ?

Is the "sharing" that BRMS does between systems limited to sharing

common

media and tracking, but backups to be appended to a tape must be

appended

to a tape already used by the same system ?

I can understand why this might be so, but would like to confirm one

way

or
another. Any references to manuals or documentation would be

appreciated.

--

Regards
Evan Harris
--

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