Kelly,

We do not have collocation turned on since we could not afford the number of
tapes it would require. I just ran a simple SQL (select node_name, count(*)
from volumeusage group by node_name). This produces a list of how many
volumes contain data for each node on the server. The top hitter is a node
that has been backing up for 26 months and uses 1036 volumes. Of course this
includes drm copies, archives and inactive copies so the actual number for a
restore will be less. I have spoken with IBM about this on several occasions
and they have recommended exporting and importing the nodes. This would
probably take a week to do for a node using 500 tapes. By the way we have
our copy group setup as VERE=7 VERD=1 RETE=45 RETO=60.

Also, I have found that the average tape mount on a 3494 is between 30 and
60 seconds. This is for 5 3494s connected to AIX and AS/400 environments so
I believe that it is the 3494s not the operating system.

I am interested in to hear what others have done to help in this area.

Thank You,

Stefan Dusedau
infoWorks
A Viacom technology service
(212)258-6739
stefan.dusedau AT viacom DOT com <mailto:stefan.dusedau AT viacom DOT com>