Tips for archiving with z/OS DFSMS

You can use z/OS DFSMS (Data Facility Storage Management Subsystem) to manage archive log data sets.

When archiving to disk, Db2 uses the number of online storage volumes for the specified unit to determine a count of candidate volumes, up to a maximum of 15 volumes. If you are using SMS to direct archive log data set allocation, override this candidate volume count by specifying YES for the SVOLARC subsystem parameter. This enables SMS to manage the allocation volume count appropriately when creating multi-volume disk archive log data sets.

Db2 uses the basic sequential access method (BSAM) to read archive logs from disk and BSAM supports the use of extended format (EF) data sets.

Ensure that z/OS DFSMS does not alter the LRECL, BLKSIZE, or RECFM of the archive log data sets. Altering these attributes could result in read errors when Db2 attempts to access the log data.

Attention: Db2 does not issue an error or a warning if you write or alter archive data to an unreadable format.