Managing Removable Media with DFSMSrmm

DFSMSrmm is an optional element of z/OS® and helps you manage your removable media, such as tape cartridges, reels, and optical volumes. DFSMSrmm provides a central online inventory of the resources in your removable media library and in storage locations outside your removable media library.

A removable media library contains all the tape and optical volumes that are available for immediate use and includes the shelves where they reside. A removable media library usually includes other libraries: system-managed libraries and non-system-managed libraries, either automated or manual.

Storage locations are locations outside your removable media library. You can use DFSMSrmm defined storage locations or define your own storage locations. Use the storage locations for managing disaster recovery or vital records or keeping track of volumes sent to other locations for processing.

DFSMSrmm manages your storage within your removable media library at several levels:

Managing Shelves: Shelves are where you store your tape volumes when they are not in an automated tape library. Use DFSMSrmm to efficiently group your shelves and keep track of what volumes reside on them. For more information, see Managing Shelves.
Managing Volumes: DFSMSrmm helps you manage the movement and retention of your tape volumes over their full life. For more information, see Managing Volumes.
Managing Data Sets: DFSMSrmm records information about data sets on the volumes it manages, and then uses that information to validate volumes. DFSMSrmm can also control the retention of data sets. For more information, see Managing Data Sets.

See Using DFSMSrmm to learn about the tasks that you can perform using DFSMSrmm.

Refer to the following publications for more information about DFSMSrmm: