Defining the tape management policies for your site

The tape management policies at your site determine how a tape is managed through its life cycle as it enters a scratch pool, is selected for output, is inventoried as active data, is recycled, and finally is returned to the scratch pool. Figure 1 illustrates the life cycle of a tape. Your site’s tape management policy is determined by the choices you make about the following tasks:

DFSMShsm tape media
Obtaining empty tapes from scratch pools
Selecting output tape
Selecting a scratch pool environment
Implementing a recycle schedule for backup and migration tapes
Returning empty tapes to the scratch pool
Reducing the number of partially full tapes
Protecting tapes
Communicating with the tape management system
Managing tapes with DFSMShsm installation exits

Figure 1. Life Cycle of a Tape. The life cycle of a tape is determined by the SETSYS commands you specify that manage the tape as it enters a scratch pool, is selected for output, is inventoried as active data, is recycled (if it is a backup or migration tape), and finally is returned to the scratch pool.