Tom, Why do you think the mainframe "doesn't talk to the 3494" ... it does via DFSMS.
JR JR (Steven) Imler CA Senior Software Engineer Tel: +1 703 708 3479 Fax: +1 703 708 3267 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Duerbusch Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 02:15 PM To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Sharing an IBM 3494 with the LAN side We have been looking at an IBM VTS with the IBM 3494 robotics unit as a backup solution for the mainframe side (z/VM 5.1, VSE/ESA 2.7, VSE/ESA 2.3, zLinux (Suse 9)). Just been having a hard time comming up with the money to pay for it. The network side, is now, also asking for a robotic unit. The plan there is to backup all the local and remote servers to the SAN box and then backup to some sort of robotic unit. I don't know the details what else is involved. So, it got me thinking.... If we buy another tape controller for the 3494 with FCP attachment and we would have to buy additional tape drives (as the drives are dedicated to a controller), could we share the robotic 3494? I don't think we can share the VTS, but that's ok. Is that doable? Has anyone tried and suceeded? Then, going off on another tangent..... Since the mainframe doesn't actually use the 3494, it only has ficon channels to the VTS, could the VTS talk to the tape controller in the 3494 using FCP connections? If so, can the FCP connections be shared between the VTS and the LAN side? (meaning, I may be able to eliminate a tape controller and its dedicated tape drives, that is until the load requires us to have more than 4 tape drives). Or, from a cost perspective, is a LAN based robotics system just too cheap to even consider upgrading a mainframe based IBM 3494 system? I'm only looking for a first cut response (yes, no, perhaps). I need to reread the manuals (with this requirement in mind) and look at associated cost issues. I wouldn't mind having FCP connections to the mainframe for the zLinux side. It may (or may not) make backups easier over there. Tom Duerbusch THD Consulting
