Advanced Library Management System

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The Advanced Library Management System (ALMS) allows the locations of cartridges in the tape library to be virtualized.

ALMS is an extension of IBM's patented Multi-Path Architecture. With ALMS, the TS4500 tape library can virtualize locations of cartridges (called SCSI element addresses) while it maintains the native SAN attachment for the tape drives. ALMS enables logical libraries to consist of unique drives and ranges of volume serial (VOLSER) numbers, instead of fixed locations.

The TS4500 tape library comes with ALMS, so you can immediately start assigning tape drives to any logical library by using the TS4500 management GUI. Logical libraries can also be added, deleted, or easily changed without disruption. Storage capacity can be changed without impact to host applications.

ALMS offers dynamic management of cartridges, cartridge storage slots, tape drives, and logical libraries. It enables the tape library to achieve unprecedented levels of integration for functionality through dynamic partitioning, storage slot pooling, and flexible drive assignment. ALMS eliminates downtime when you add Capacity On Demand (CoD) or High Density Capacity on Demand (HD CoD) storage, add or remove logical libraries, or change logical library storage allocation. ALMS also reduces downtime when you add expansion frames, add or remove tape drives, or change logical drive allocation.

ALMS provides the following capabilities:

  • Dynamic partitioning (storage slot pooling and flexible drive assignment)
  • The ability to add or remove storage capacity to any host application
  • The ability to configure drives or to configure storage capacity without taking the library offline
  • Virtual I/O slots (always enabled) to automatically manage the movement of cartridges between I/O slots and storage slots

The sections that follow describe the capabilities of ALMS.