IBM Support

Support for IBM TS1130 (IBM 3592 Generation 3) drives

Product Lifecycle


Abstract

The following document provides configuration Information for IBM TS1130 (IBM 3592 Generation 3) drives.

Content

IBM TS1130 or 3592 generation 3 drives use the same media as generation 2 drives, but they are able to write in a new format. The new format has a larger capacity:

IBM 3592 generation 3 capacities for UNIX, Linux, and Windows


JA tapes
JB tapes
Uncompressed
640 GB
1 TB
Compressed
1.9 TB
3 TB
NOTE: Tivoli Storage Manger for z/OS does not adjust estimated capacity based on the format of the volume.

The same ratio also applies to short-tape capacity and WORM (write-once, read-many) volumes. For details, see the 3592 generation 3 hardware specifications.

IBM 3592 generation 3 drives support:
  • Tivoli Storage Manager Application Managed Encryption on all open platforms
  • Re-writeable and write-once, read-many (WORM) media formats.

Device Class Information:
To use the new hardware through Tivoli Storage Manager, define a device class that specifies the 3592 device type:
DEVTYPE=3592 FORMAT=<DRIVE,3592-3,3592-3C>
where 3592-3 is the uncompressed format and 3592-3C is the compressed format

NOTE: If you have an existing device class that specifies one of the other formats (for example, 3592-2C), you can continue to use that device class and substitute generation 3 drives by updating the device class definition (UPDATE DEVCLASS) or specifying a new FORMAT value of DRIVE, 3592-3 or 3592-3C.

Generational Compatibility:
For optimal performance, do not mix generations of 3592 drives in a single logical library. Media problems can result when different drive generations are mixed. For example, Tivoli Storage Manager might not be able to read a volume's label. The following table shows read-and-write interoperability for the three generations.
Drives
Generation 1 format
Generation 2 format
Generation 3 format
Generation 1Read and writen/a
    n/a
Generation 2Read and writeRead and write
    n/a
Generation 3Read onlyRead and write
    Read and write

If mixing generations of drives within the same library partition, use one of the following methods to prevent or minimize the potential for problems:

Open systems and Windows:
  • (349X, ACSLS, and SCSI libraries) Force all 3592 generation 3 drives to always write in the generation 2 density. Do this by explicitly setting the FORMAT parameter on the device class to either 3592-2 or 3592-2C.

    Both generation 2 and generation 3 drives can read media written in the generation 2 format. All drives will be able to verify labels and read all data written on the media. However, this configuration does not allow the generation 3 drives to write or read in their optimal format.

    Generation 3 drives can read generation 1 format, but cannot write with it. So, mark all media previously written in generation 1 format to read-only. Generation 3 drives can both read and write with generation 2 formats.
  • (349X and ACSLS libraries only) This method is a simple way to logically partition the generations without partitioning the hardware. Define two or three new library objects for each drive generation that the physical library contains. For example, if you have a physical library with 3592-2 drives and 3592-3 drives, define two new library objects.

    Specify a path with the same special file name for each new library object. In addition, for 349X libraries, specify disjoint scratch categories (including WORMSCRATCH category, if applicable) for each library object. Specify a new device class and a new storage pool that points to each new library object.

    Example for the new 349X library object with a set of 3592-2 drives:
    DEFINE LIBRARY libgen2 LIBTYPE=349X SCRATCHCAT=300 PRIVATECAT=301
    DEFINE PATH server1 libgen2 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=LIBR DEVI=devlib
    DEFEINE DRIVE libgen2 dr1
    DEFINE PATH server1 dr1 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=DRIVE LIBR=libgen2 DEVI=deva
    DEFEINE DRIVE libgen2 dr2
    DEFINE PATH server1 dr2 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=DRIVE LIBR=libgen2 DEVI=devb
    ....

    Example for the new 349X library object with a set of 3592-3 drives:
    DEFINE LIBRARY libgen3 LIBTYPE=349X SCRATCHCAT=400 PRIVATECAT=401
    DEFINE PATH server1 libgen3 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=LIBR DEVI=devlib
    DEFEINE DRIVE libgen3 dr1
    DEFINE PATH server1 dr1 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=DRIVE LIBR=libgen3 DEVI=devc
    DEFEINE DRIVE libgen3 dr2
    DEFINE PATH server1 dr2 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=DRIVE LIBR=libgen3 DEVI=devd
    ....

    NOTE: The DEVICE value for the path definition in both library objects is the same because both library objects refer to the same physical library. However, drives should be unique to each library. Thus in the example, all 3592-2 drives would be defined to libgen2 and all 3592-3 drives would be defined to libgen3.
  • (SCSI only) Define a new storage pool and device class for the generation 3 drives. Set the FORMAT parameter to 3592-3 or 3592-3C (not DRIVE). The original device class will have a FORMAT parameter set to 3592, 3592C, 3952-2, or 3592-2C (not DRIVE). Update MAXSCRATCH parameter to 0 for the storage pool that will contain all the media written in generation 1 or generation 2 formats, for example:

    UPDATE STGPOOL <gen1pool> MAXSCRatch=0

    This method allows both generations to use their optimal format and minimizes potential media problems that can result from mixing generations. However, it does not resolve all media issues. For example, competition for mount points and mount failures could result. The following known media issues also remain:

    1. CHECKIN LIBVOL: The problem resides with using the CHECKLABEL=YES option. If the label is currently written in a generation 3 format, drives of previous generations will fail this command for this particular media. As a best practice, use CHECKLABEL=BARCODE to circumvent this issue for CHECKIN.
    2. LABEL LIBVOL: The problem also results when the server tries to use drives of a previous generation to read the label written in a generation 3 format. In this case, the LABEL LIBVOL command will fail unless OVERWRITE=YES is specified. Verify that the media being labeled with OVERWRITE=YES does not have any active data.
    3. CHECKOUT LIBVOL: As with the previous 2 commands the same problem arises when Tivoli Storage Manager verifies the label (CHECKLABEL=YES) if it is written in a generation 3 format and read drives of previous generations. Thus, Tivoli Storage Manager recommends using CHECKLABEL=NO to circumvent this issue for CHECKOUT.

z/OS:
  • If your library has generation 1 drives or uses generation 1 media with generation 2 drives. and if you want to add generation 3 drives:
    1. Ensure that you have ACS routines to restrict generation 3 drives to generation 2 format.
    2. Remove the generation 1 drives.
    3. Make generation 1 media read-only.
    4. Update ACS routines, if available, to write in the generation 2 format only
    5. Define a new storage pool and device class for the generation 3 drives. The original device class will have a UNIT parameter that resolves to the generation 1 or generation 2 drives only and a value for the FORMAT parameter of DRIVE, 3592, 3592C, 3592-2, or 3592-2C. The new device class will have a UNIT parameter that resolves to generation 3 drives only and a value for the FORMAT parameter of DRIVE, 3592-3 or 3592-3C.

[{"Product":{"code":"SSGSG7","label":"Tivoli Storage Manager"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Component":"Server","Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"All Supported Versions","Edition":"All Editions","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB26","label":"Storage"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

swg21317777