When MVS™ selects a device on which to mount a tape, it uses your criteria or its own to determine which device it selects. You can restrict MVS device selection to devices that you specify whether you are in an SMS-managed tape library environment or not. By restricting device selection, you can:

• Ensure that devices with similar characteristics are selected when you want them.
• Ensure that new devices, as they are introduced into the environment, are selected for output.

For more information about device selection, see Tape device selection.