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Administrator's Guide
Policy administrators use Tivoli Storage Manager policy to specify how
files are backed up, archived, migrated from client node storage, and managed
in server storage. Figure 44 shows the parts of a policy and the relationships among the
parts. You may refer to Example: Sample Policy Objects.
Figure 44. Tivoli Storage Manager Policy

- Backup copy group
- Controls the backup processing of files associated with the management
class. A backup copy group determines the following:
- How frequently a file can be backed up
- How to handle files that are in use during a backup
- Where the server initially stores backup versions of files and directories
- How many backup versions the server keeps of files and directories
- How long the server keeps backup versions of files and directories, see Running Expiration Processing to Delete Expired Files for details
- Archive copy group
- Controls the archive processing of files associated with the management
class. An archive copy group determines the following:
- Management class
-
Associates backup and archive groups with files, and specifies if and how
client node files are migrated to storage pools. A management class can
contain one backup or archive copy group, both a backup and archive copy
group, or no copy groups. Users can bind (that is,
associate) their files to a management class through the include-exclude
list.
See More on Management Classes for details.
- Policy set
- Specifies the management classes that are available to groups of
users. Policy sets contain one or more management classes. You
must identify one management class as the default management
class. Only one policy set, the ACTIVE policy set, controls
policy operations.
- Policy domain
- Lets an administrator group client nodes by the policies that govern their
files and by the administrators who manage their policies. A policy
domain contains one or more policy sets, but only one policy set (named
ACTIVE) can be active at a time. The server uses only the ACTIVE policy
set to manage files for client nodes assigned to a policy domain.
You can use policy domains to:
- Group client nodes with similar file management requirements
- Provide different default policies for different groups of clients
- Direct files from different groups of clients to different storage
hierarchies based on need (different file destinations with different storage
characteristics)
- Restrict the number of management classes to which clients have access
Figure 45 summarizes the relationships among the physical device
environment, Tivoli Storage Manager storage and policy objects, and
clients. The numbers in the following list correspond to the numbers in
the figure.
Figure 45. How Clients, Server Storage, and Policy Work Together

- (1)
- When clients are registered, they are associated with a policy
domain. Within the policy domain are the policy set, management class,
and copy groups.
- (2), (3)
- When a client backs up, archives, or migrates a file, it is bound to a
management class. A management class and the backup and archive copy
groups within it specify where files are stored and how they are managed when
they are backed up, archived, or migrated from the client.
- (4), (5)
- Storage pools are the destinations for backed-up, archived, or
space-managed files. Copy groups specify storage pools for backed-up or
archived files. Management classes specify storage pools for
space-managed files.
Storage pools are mapped to device classes, which represent devices.
The storage pool contains volumes of the type indicated by the associated
device class. For example, a storage pool that is mapped to a device
class with a device type of 8MM contains only 8mm tapes.
- (6)
- Files that are initially stored on disk storage pools can migrate to tape
or optical disk storage pools if the pools are set up in a storage
hierarchy.
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