Administrator's Guide

Configuring Devices: An Overview

After tape or optical devices have been physically attached and defined to your server system, you must then configure them to ADSM so that ADSM can use and manage the devices and their media.

Sequential access devices typically require that the following steps be performed so that ADSM can use the devices.

1. Attach the device to the server system.

   In addition to physically attaching the device to your system, you must ensure that the appropriate device driver is installed. For the IBM 3490, 3570, and 3590 tape drives, and the IBM 3494 and 3575 tape libraries, you must install the device drivers that came with the hardware. For other tape and autochanger devices and optical devices, you must ensure that you have installed the ADSM device drivers. See "Installing Device Drivers".

   
   
   
   
   

2. Define the device to ADSM.

   The administrator defines the storage objects that represent the physical device and media: library, drive, device class, storage pool, and storage volume. For an introduction to the ADSM storage objects, see "What Are the ADSM Storage Objects?" and "Configuring Devices".

   
   
   
   
   

3. Define the ADSM policy that links client data with media for the new device.

   The administrator defines or updates the ADSM policy objects that will link clients to the pool of storage volumes and to the device. Do this by using the new storage pool as a destination for backed up, archived, or space-managed client data. For an introduction to the ADSM policy objects, see "How ADSM Stores Client Data". For a description of the standard policy that is installed with ADSM, see "Using the Standard Policy".

   An alternative is to simply place the new storage pool in the storage pool migration hierarchy by updating an already defined storage pool.

   
   
   
   
   

4. Register clients to the policy domain defined or updated in the preceding step. This step links clients and their data with storage volumes and devices.

   
   
   
   
   

5. Prepare volumes for use by the device. At a minimum, you must label volumes for the device. For SCSI and 349X libraries, you must also add the volumes to the device's volume inventory by checking in the volumes.

For an example of setting up a manual library, see "Example of a Manual Library: Setting Up Two 8mm Tape Drives". For an example of setting up an automated library, see "Example of an Automated Library: Setting Up an 8mm Autochanger".