Defining a Device Class

To define a device class, first complete the following fields and then click Finish, or click Cancel to end this task.

Device Class Name

Enter the name of the device class to be defined. This parameter is required. The maximum length of the device class name is 30 characters.

Recording Format

Select an option. This parameter is optional.

Drive Specifies that ADSM selects the highest format that can be supported by the drive on which a volume is mounted.
18C Specifies the 18 track standard (read-only) recording format.
18TC Specifies the 18 track extended (read-only), compacted recording format.
36T Specifies the 36 track extended (read and write) recording format.
36TC Specifies the 36 track extended (read and write), compacted recording format.
SD3A Specifies a 10GB 'A' cartridge with 91 meters (298 feet) of tape with a standard recording format.
SD3AC Specifies a 10GB 'A' cartridge with 91 meters (298 feet) of tape with a compacted recording format.
SD3B Specifies a 25GB 'B' cartridge with 204 meters (668 feet) of tape with a standard recording format.
SD3BC Specifies a 25GB 'B' cartridge with 204 meters (668 feet) of tape with a compacted recording format.
SD3C Specifies a 50GB 'B' cartridge with 392 meters (1286 feet) of tape with a standard recording format.
SD3CC Specifies a 50GB 'B' cartridge with 392 meters (1286 feet) of tape with a compacted recording format.

Library Name

Select the name of the defined library object that contains the drives used by this device class.

Mount Limit

Enter the maximum number of volumes that can be simultaneously mounted for the device class. This parameter is optional.

The possible values are:

Drives Specifies that ADSM determines the mount limit based on the number of drives defined and online in the library. Drives is the default.
mountlimitvalue Specify a number for the maximum number of drives used concurrently in this device class by ADSM. This value must never be allowed to exceed the number of drives that are defined and online in the library that services this device class.
0 The value of zero prevents new transactions from gaining access to the storage pool.

Mount Retention

Enter the amount of time, in minutes, to retain an idle sequential access volume before dismounting it. This parameter is optional.

Tape Volume Prefix

Enter the high level qualifier of the file name that the server writes into the sequential access media labels. For each volume assigned to this device class, ADSM uses this prefix to create the data set name.

Estimated Capacity

Enter the estimated capacity for the sequential access volumes categorized by this device class. You do not need to specify an estimated capacity unless the drives perform data compression, or you have volumes of nonstandard size. Specify an integer followed by a scale factor. Scale factors and their meanings are:

K Kilobyte
M Megabyte
G Gigabyte

Mount Wait

Enter a number for the maximum length of time, in minutes, to wait for a sequential access volume to be mounted in a manual library.