6 types of device classes which are supported by IBM TSM

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager supports different types of storage devices to be used for backup and archive. The type of devices used should be determined by careful examination of the intended TSM server environment and backup plan. Some libraries in the current market supports only single device type drives and other supports mixed device type drives. The configuration steps of these libraries depends on which library you choose. 

In this post we will see the different types of devices supported by IBM Tivoli Storage Manager version 6 with brief description and example commands to configure them. Other parameters in these commands are left with default values, you should choose appropriate values suitable for your TSM environment. Since IBM keep changing these list with every new version, it is recommended to check IBM website for latest version updates.

Different types of storage devices supported by IBM TSM 

To use any type of storage device in TSM environment, the device should be first defined to Operating System and as well as to TSM server. Defining storage device to OS requires installing suitable device drivers software (for example atape device drivers in AIX), and defining storage device to TSM server requires DEFINE DEVCLASS command. 

1) Magnetic Storage Devices

DISK device class (Random Access)
This is the default device class which will be configured automatically during TSM server installation. The DISK device class cannot be changed. You cannot define another DISK device class but you can define FILE device class instead.

FILE device class (Sequential Access)
This device class uses disk storage but have the ability to access data sequentially. This class is fast when compared to other sequential access devices because it doesn't need to mount on tape drives. This is mainly used for defining deduplication enabled storage pools and reclamation storage pools (for single drive reclamation). If you have tape drive limitation, you can define FILE device class STGpools and point client backups to this FILE storage pool to improve backup performance and later migrate to tape pool when tape drives are free.
define devclass <devclassname> devtype=FILE dir=/home/FILE

Also Read: Different types of libraries supported by IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM)

CENTERA device class (Sequential Access)
If you want to use EMC CENTERA storage devices for TSM server storage, you should define CENTERA device class. It uses files as volumes to store data sequentially, similar to FILE device class. For each CENTERA device class, you must specify one or more IP addresses during defining device class as shown in below example.
define devclass <devclassname> devtype=CENTERA HLADDRESS=10.10.69.7?/user/ControlFiles/TSM.PEA

2) TAPE Storage Devices

There are many different types of tape device types supported by IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. The most commonly used and the poplar are LTO tapes. 

LTO devices
IBM, HP and Fujitsu are on the top manufacturers list of this LTO and they have 6 generation from LTO1 being lowest and LTO6 being highest. To configure LTO tapes you should use suitable FORMAT option while defining. For example to define LTO4 device
define declass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=LTO format=<drive OR ULTRIUM4>

If you have same device class tape drives in the library, use FORMAT=DRIVE
If you have mixed device class tape drives in the library , use FORMAT=ULTRIUMgenerationnumber(4C) and each device type should be defined separately. From here, FORMAT parameter is referred as above example.

Also Read: Tape Library related Interview Questions

3590 devices
Use the 3590 device class when you are using 3590 tape devices
define declass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=3590 format=<drive OR generationumber>

3592 devices
Use the 3592 device class when you are using 3592 tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=3592 format=<drive OR generationumber>

4MM devices
Use the 4MM device class when you are using 4 mm tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=4MM format=<drive OR generationumber>

8MM devices
Use the 8MM device class when you are using 8 mm tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=8MM format=<drive OR generationumber>

DLT devices

Use the DLT device class when you are using DLT tape devices.

define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=DLT format=<drive OR generationumber>

NAS devices
Use the NAS device class when you are using NDMP (Network Data Management Protocol) operations to back up network-attached storage (NAS) file servers. The device class is for drives supported by the NAS file server for backups.
define devclass <devclassname> devtype=NAS library=<libraryname> mountretention=0 estcapacity=<size>

QIC devices
Use the QIC device class when you are using QIC tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=QIC format=<drive OR generationumber>

VOLSAFE devices
Use the VOLSAFE device type to work with StorageTek VolSafe brand media and drives. This technology uses media that cannot be overwritten. Therefore, do not use these media for short-term backups of client files, the server database, or export tapes.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=VOLSAFE format=<drive OR generationumber>

Also Read: 15 tips to efficiently use the tape drive resources

3570 devices
Use the 3570 device class when you are using 3570 tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=3570 format=<drive OR generationumber>

DTF devices
Use the DTF device class when you are using DTF tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=DTF format=<drive OR generationumber>

GENERICTAPE devices
Use the GENERICTAPE device class for tape drives supported by operating system device drivers. When using this device type, the server does not recognize either the type of device or the cartridge recording format. Because the server does not recognize the type of device. When defining devices to the server, do not mix various types of devices within the same device type.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=GENERICTAPE

CARTRIDGE devices
Use the CARTRIDGE device class when you are using IBM 3480 and 3490 cartridge tape devices.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=CARTRIDGE  format=<drive OR generationumber>

ECARTRIDGE devices
Use the ECARTRIDGE device class when you are using StorageTek drives such as the StorageTek SD-3, 9490, 9840 or 9940.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=ECARTRIDGE  format=<drive OR generationumber>

3) OPTICAL Storage Devices

Optical and WORM devices
Use the OPTICAL device class when you are using optical devices. Use the WORM device class when you are using optical devices that have WORM capability. The differences between optical and different WORM types are 

OPTicalSpecifies that the device class uses two-sided 5.25 inch rewritable optical media.

WORM - Specifies that the device class uses two-sided 5.25 inch write-once read-many ( WORM) optical media. Do not use this device type for 12-inch or 14-inch WORM optical media.

Also Read: Steps to fix read write errors on tape - video tutorial

WORM12Specifies that the device class uses one-sided 12-inch WORM optical media.
WORM14Specifies that the device class uses two-sided 14-inch WORM optical media.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=<OPTICAL/WORM/WORM12/WORM14> format=<drive OR generationumber>

4) REMOVABLEFILE Storage Devices

Use the REMOVABLEFILE device class for removable media devices that are attached as local, removable file systems.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<librname> devtype=REMOVABLEFILE

5) Virtual Storage Devices

SERVER devices
Use the SERVER device class to use storage volumes or files archived in another Tivoli Storage Manager server.
define devclass <devclassname> devtype=SERVER servername=<anotherTSMservername> maxcapacity=<sizein MB>

6) z/OS Media Servers

Use the DEFINE DEVCLASS command to define a device class for the type of storage device which are in z/OS media servers. The server requires that a device class be defined to allow the use of a device. Only these 3590, 3592, CARTRIDGE, ECARTRIDGE and FILE device class types are available for devices that are accessed through a z/OS media server.
define devclass <devclassname> library=<zos_media_library> devtype=<3590/3592/CARTRIDGE/ECARTRIDGE/FILE> format=<drive/correspondong generation number>

Also Read: Monitoring and Managing Tape Volumes

Configuring LTO tape devices video tutorial

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