Reusing media in automated library devices is essentially the same as reusing media in manual library devices except that less human intervention is required for automated devices than manual devices. You can set up expiration processing and reclamation processing and tune the media rotation to achieve the desired results.
Expiration processing is the same, regardless of the type of device and media on which a backups are stored. See Running Expiration Processing to Delete Expired Files.
For a storage pool associated with a library device that has more than one drive, the reclaimed data is moved to other volumes in the same storage pool. See Reclaiming Space in Sequential Access Storage Pools.
Most media can be returned to a storage pool after it has been reclaimed but media containing database backups and database export data require you to perform an additional step. For these volumes, you must issues the DELETE VOLHISTORY command or the UPDATE LIBVOLUME command to change the status of the volume.
When TSM backs up the database or exports server information, TSM records information about the volumes used for these operations in the volume history file. Volumes that are tracked in the volume history file require the administrator to delete the volume information from the volume history file. The volume history file is a key component of server recovery and is discussed in detail in Chapter 23, Protecting and Recovering Your Server.