Copying and Moving Data to Meet Changing Storage Requirements

Moving data is an essential part of storage management. You must move data in order to replace storage devices, add storage capacity, and meet storage requirements. DFSMSdss has the following move capabilities:

It moves data sets between DASD types and models.
It moves data sets between system-managed and non-system-managed volumes.
It moves data sets off of a volume when hardware maintenance is required.
It moves or copies data sets for other purposes.

DFSMSdss can move data sets from one DASD volume to another volume of the same or different device type. Devices are of the same type if both their track capacities and the number of tracks per cylinder are the same. If the device types are the same, DFSMSdss can copy ranges of tracks from a volume or can copy a full volume.

DFSMSdss allows you to perform the following tasks:

Move an entire VSAM sphere (the base cluster and all associated alternate index components and paths) with one copy. You need not move each component individually.
Copy or move multivolume data sets.
Retrieve readable data from undamaged portions of a volume that has sustained damage.
Delete data sets from the source volume after a successful copy.
Rename the copied data sets.
Control data set placement on the target volume by copying data to preallocated data sets. In this way, you can place data sets on specific target volumes and tracks.
Redefine the block size of one or more physical sequential, partitioned data sets (PDS), or partitioned data sets extended (PDSE) while copying those data sets.
Copy a PDSE to a PDS, or a PDS to a PDSE.
Copy data sets that have an undefined data set organization (DSORG) to an unlike device of larger capacity. DFSMSdss uses track-for-track replacement to copy or restore an undefined DSORG data set to a target device whose track size is greater than or equal to the source device.
Move system data sets.
Specify the target status of system-managed generation data sets.

You can move data sets between system-managed volumes and non-system-managed volumes. Moving data sets or copying data sets invokes the Automatic Class Selection (ACS) routines. These routines determine the Storage Management Subsystem (SMS) classes of the target data set. If you have RACF® authorization, you can specify that ACS routines be bypassed. For more information, see SMS Classes and Groups (ACS routines) and Controlling Access to DFSMSdss Tasks and Data (RACF).