We considered VTAPE some years ago, but then went out and bought a brand-new IBM VTS. It's shared between our (very old) VM/ESA 2.4 and (even older) OS/390 systems.
It's set up so that OS/390 sees a string of 16x 3490Es and VM sees 32x 3490E. We use a lot of NL tapes, and the data format on some of these meant it took a little bit of effort to get it working as we wanted, but having done so, the users love it. The only down-side is that, since its installation, our operators get nowhere near as much exercise as they used to... Regards, Roy Harrop ----------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: Tom Duerbusch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 03 September 2008 19:02 Subject: Re: VTAPE from Virtual Software Systems The disk based VTAPE systems are really neat, but are expensive compared to a used IBM VTS tape based solution. Obviously this is a new vs used situation. Tom Duerbusch THD Consulting Law of Dinner Table Attendance Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served. >>> Mike Walter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 9/3/2008 12:55 PM >>> Without having ever run VTAPE here... perhaps you could better define your requirements? Are you saying that you want to eliminate all tape drives? If so, how will you back up your DASD (upon which I believe that VTAPE writes its virtual tapes)? Unless you have mirrored DASD, with the mirror far enough away to constitute a D.R. site, you still need tape backup for D.R. Even with mirrored D.R. DASD, if there is ever DASD corruption, the mirroring code could just mirror the corruption to the remote site. Indeed, the DASD vendor's microcode could even be the cause of the corruption. Without tape backup, you may not be able to restore. Another alternative is virtual tape libraries (IBM, SUN/STK, and more), which write tape data for virtual tapes on DASD cache for fast I/O, then migrate that cache to very high capacity tapes behind the scenes. But even that isn't perfect for D.R. if at least one copy of the tapes are not stored at the D.R. site. Surely there are other variations on this theme to be considered. But in most cases, you probably want to consider some external tapes for true D.R. Always plan for the worst, or that's what will require a resume update. Mike Walter Hewitt Associates Any opinions expressed herein are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of Hewitt Associates. "Shiminsky, Gary" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> 09/03/2008 11:52 AM Please respond to "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> To IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU cc Subject VTAPE from Virtual Software Systems Hi, We are looking for a virtual tape system as part of a project to replace our ageing tape drives. Does anybody have any experience with VTAPE from Virtual Software Systems that they would like to share? Gary Gary L. Shiminsky VM/VSE Senior Systems Programmer Office of Information Technology State of New Hampshire 27 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03301 603-271-1509 Fax 603-271-1516 The information contained in this e-mail and any accompanying documents may contain information that is confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply e-mail and then delete this message, including any attachments. Any dissemination, distribution or other use of the contents of this message by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. All messages sent to and from this e-mail address may be monitored as permitted by applicable law and regulations to ensure compliance with our internal policies and to protect our business. E-mails are not secure and cannot be guaranteed to be error free as they can be intercepted, amended, lost or destroyed, or contain viruses. You are deemed to have accepted these risks if you communicate with us by e-mail. ----------------------------------------- *******************************************************************If you are not the intended recipient, please notify our Help Desk at Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] immediately. You should not copy or use this email or attachment(s) for any purpose nor disclose their contents to any other person. NATS computer systems may be monitored and communications carried on them recorded, to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes. Please note that neither NATS nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses or any losses caused as a result of viruses and it is your responsibility to scan or otherwise check this email and any attachments. NATS means NATS (En Route) plc (company number: 4129273), NATS (Services) Ltd (company number 4129270), NATSNAV Ltd (company number: 4164590) or NATS Ltd (company number 3155567) or NATS Holdings Ltd (company number 4138218). All companies are registered in England and their registered office is at 5th Floor, Brettenham House South, Lancaster Place, London, WC2E 7EN. **********************************************************************
