Working with Media Classes

Media classes define the types of physical media that are enrolled in BRMS. The characteristics of a media class include media density, capacity, label information, number of errors allowed, and shared status. During installation, BRMS automatically creates media classes that are based on the types of devices attached to your system. As you enroll media, BRMS assigns it to the appropriate media class. For example, if you have a 3490 tape device attached to your system, the media class might be CART3490E. In this case, the class prefix (CART) signifies a half-inch tape cartridge that is read by a 3490 device. BRMS creates media classes for all media types that are supported by your media device.

Though BRMS does a thorough job of creating the media classes you need, there may be times when you want to create a unique media class. For example, whenever you add a new device type, you must create new media classes that are compatible with the media device you are adding. For example, you may want to create a unique media class when you back up data that belongs to user X, Y, or Z. Or, you might create a new media class for use by developers.

To add a new media class, take the following steps:

1. Type WRKCLSBRM from a command line and press Enter.
2. At the Work with Media Classes display, type a 1 (Add) in the Opt column. In the Class column, type a unique name for the media class you want to create. For example, CART3490 or USERDOE. Press Enter.

                                    Add Media Class                                
                                                                                   
    Type choices, press Enter.                                                     
                                                                                   
    Media class . . . . . . . . . . . .   USERDOE      Name                        
    Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                F4 for list                 
    Media capacity  . . . . . . . . . .   *DENSITY     *DENSITY, Number nnnnn.nn   
      Unit of measure . . . . . . . . .                1=KB, 2=MB, 3=GB            
    Mark for label print  . . . . . . .   *NONE        *NONE, *MOVE, *WRITE        
    Label size  . . . . . . . . . . . .   1            1=6 LPI, 2=8 LPI, 3=9 LPI   
    Label output queue  . . . . . . . .   *SYSPCY      Name, *SYSPCY, *PRTF        
      Library . . . . . . . . . . . . .                Name, *LIBL                 
    Shared media  . . . . . . . . . . .   *YES         *YES, *NO                   
    Write once media  . . . . . . . . .                *YES, *NO                   
    Text  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                            
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                           More... 
    F3=Exit    F4=Prompt    F12=Cancel                                             

3. At the Add Media Class display, review and change the parameters as needed. Following are brief summaries of the key fields on this display:
   • The default Shared media value of *YES instructs BRMS to share media as applicable with all systems in a network. However, you need to change this value to *NO before performing a SAVSYS backup, even if your system is not in a network. This means that you need to use a separate, unshared media class to save your operating system and licensed internal code.

     Because only one system needs to use these volumes, overwriting by another system is acceptable. BRMS immediately registers volume activity on all systems in the network so you can easily track volume activity.

     Note:

     Virtual media cannot be shared. So for any media classes using densities for virtual media, the only valid value for this parameter is *NO.
   • The Write once media prompt identifies whether the media in this class should be treated as if the volumes can be written only once. You would set this value to *YES if the type of media being used with this class is Write Once Read Many (WORM). The following identifies the operating characteristics of WORM media.
     • File sequences on WORM media cannot be reused.
     • Only new file sequences can be added to WORM media until the volume is filled.
     • WORM media cannot be re-initialized once used.
   • BRMS flags labels for printing at the Label output queue parameter. You can mark specific volumes for label printing by selecting option 11 on the Work with Media display. You can activate the label print request by selecting option 7 (Confirm Media Label Print) from the Media Management menu.
   • Make the class description in the Text field a meaningful one. This allows you to view and identify the media class entry at a glance when you get to the Work with Media Classes display.
4. Press Enter to save your changes and to return to the Work with Media Classes display.

Use the Work with Media Classes (WRKCLSBRM) display any time you want to add, change or remove a media class. You can also access the Work with Media (WRKMEDBRM) display from the Work with Media Classes display to review volume information that is associated with media of a particular class. Use the Print Media Exceptions for BRM (PRTMEDBRM) display to review or print media usage statistics. BRMS bases these statistics on the characteristics you specify on the WRKCLSBRM command.