z/OS DFSMS provides device allocation and media management in 3494 automated or manual tape library environments for 3592 Model J tape drives. This full support is required when 3592 Model J tape drives are installed in an IBM tape library environment. 3592 Model J drives can coexist with 3950 Model B1x, 3590 Model E1x, and 3590 Model H1x drives in the same library.

Inside an IBM tape library, only 3590 Model B1x emulation is supported. The system-managed tape library support recognizes the device as its real device type instead of its emulated device type; this enables "real" and emulated Model B1x tape drives to coexist and be properly managed in the same IBM tape library.

To request WORM media in a system-managed tape library environment and to ensure that WORM media is only used when explicitly requested, if a WORM scratch volume is to be used, media types MEDIA6 or MEDIA8 must be explicitly specified through data class. If a media type is not specified through data class, MEDIA5 is the primary scratch media type and MEDIA7 is the alternate scratch media type if there are no MEDIA5 scratch volumes available.

Before using the new 3592 media (MEDIA6, MEDIA7, or MEDIA8) in the system-managed tape library environment (automated or manual), ensure that all existing 3592 drives in the library are upgraded to support the new media types. Otherwise, job failures may occur with a drive with the incorrect microcode load being allocated.