Hi Ray,

We are also looking at upgrading our 3590 'B' drives to 'E' drives. The thing 
that you need to think about is whether you upgrade all of your drives at once, 
or one at a time. The first option is simpler, but higher risk. I'm not sure 
whether upgrading all drives at once is even practical; how long would this 
process take per drive. The downside of doing one at a time is that you need to 
duplicate your tape storage pools ie you need one pool for the 'B' drives and 
one for the 'E'. This is explaining in the following text that was taken from 
the README file for AIX ADSM server fixtest that has the 'E' drive support (on 
index.storsys.ibm.com/adsm/fixtest/v3r1/aixsrv/seattle).


regards,

Trevor

--------------------------------------------
$$      ADSM Support for IBM 3590 Tape drive
$$      ADSM Support for IBM 3590 Tape drive
--------------------------------------------
ADSM now supports the IBM 3590E Tape drive.
ADSM now supports the IBM 3590E Tape drive.

The 3590E tape drive writes data in a new 256 track data tape format.
3590E drives can not write in 3590 128 track format however, they can
read data from the tapes previously written in 128 track format on 3590 drives.

With new 3590E drives available, the existing 3494 libraries with 3590 drives
may either be completely upgraded with 3590E drives or they may have an intermix
configuration (3590 and 3590E drives).

ADSM administrators must follow certain rules to transition from old 3590 drives
to new 3590E drives and/or maintain both kinds of drives within the same 
physical library.

Configurations:

 Tape formats for 3590E:
      - 3590E-B - uncompressed mode (similar to 3590B)
      - 3590E-C - compressed mode (similar to 3590C)
      - DRIVE   - the most advanced available format
      Note: For 3590 and 3590E tape drives the most
            advanced formats are respectively 3590C and 3590E-C

 1. All 3590 drives within physical library are upgraded
    with 3590E drives at the same time.

    Consider an example with one 3590 drive physically
    defined as /dev/rmt0. Assume that there were originally
    defined devclass, logical library, and
    storage pool for 3590 drive.
    There were also some volumes (tape cartridges) checked
    in the library with data written on that drive.
    Replaced 3590 drive with 3590E drive.

    Steps below will allow you to use the new 3590E drives
    with minimum changes to ADSM server:

     - Using SMIT utility or manually, remove /dev/rmt0 device
         example: rmdev -l 'rmt0' '-d;
     - Using SMIT utility or manually, define the 3590E device
         example: mkdev -c tape -t '3590' -s 'scsi' -p 'scsi0'
                        -w '0,0' -l 'rmt0;
     - Run ADSM server (dsmserv);
     - Issue ADSM command: UPDate DEVclass devclassname FORMAT=DRIVE
         update devclass devclass_3590 FORMAT=DRIVE;
     - Issue ADSM command: DELete DRive libname drivename
         delete drive lib_3590 drive_3590;
     - Issue ADSM command:
         DEFine DRive libname drivename DEVIce=devicename
         define drive lib_3590 drive_3590 device=/dev/rmt0;
     - Update all previously written on 3590 drive volumes
       to readonly mode
         update volume volname access=readonly;

 2. Intermix of 3590 and 3590E drives in a single 3494 library environment.

    Consider an example of a physical library with
    one 3590 drive defined  on /dev/rmt0 and
    a new 3590E drive defined on /dev/rmt1.
    Assume that there were originally defined devclass,
    logical library, and storage pool for 3590 drives.
    With addition of a new 3590E drive to the
    library that already has 3590 drives in it, new DEVCLASS,
    new logical LIBRARY, and new STORAGE pool MUST be defined.

    Defining new devclass, logical library, and storage pool
    for 3590E drive:

    DEFINE LOGICAL LIBRARY
    define library lib_3590E libtype=3494 device=/dev/rmt1
             privatecategory-lib_3590_private
             scratchcategory=lib_3590_private+3

    DEFINE DEVCLASS
    define devclass devclass_3590E devtype=3590 format=3590E-C
                                                  format=3590E-B
                                                  format=DRIVE

                          library=lib_3590E
    DEFINE STORAGE POOL
    define stgpool stg_3590E devclass_3590E other parameters

    Defining separate devclass for each type of drives will
    allow the user to specify the format for the drive and insure
    that 3590 volumes will not be mounted on 3590E drives
    and that 3590E volumes will not be mounted on 3590 drives.

    Defining a logical library for each type of drives will allow
    to define two separate storage pools of scratch volumes.
    It is necessary to allow write the label for the volume
    in the appropriate format.

    Moving a scratch volume from 3590 scratch pool
    to 3590E scratch pool:

      - ADSM command: CHECKOut LIBVolume libraryname volname REMove=No
      - ADSM command: CHECKIn LIBVolume libraryname SEARCH=Yes
    Note: In order to move volume from 3590 scratch pool to 3590E
          scratch pool issue above commands and RELABEL the volume
          after it has been checked in the 3590 library.

    IN ORDER TO READ THE VOLUME PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN IN 3590 FORMAT
    ON 3590E DRIVE (THE STORAGE POOL THAT OWNS THE VOLUME POINTS
    TO A DEVCLASS THAT USES 3590E drive):
    - UPDATE ACCESS MODE TO THAT VOLUME TO READONLY
       update volume volumename access=readonly;
    - CHECKOUT THE VOLUME FROM THE LOGICAL 3590 LIBRARY
      (THE DEVCLASS' OLD LIBRARY THAT HAD 3590 DRIVES);
    - CHECKIN THE VOLUME TO THE LOGICAL 3590E LIBRARY
      (THE DEVCLASS' NEW LIBRARY THAT CONTAINS 3590E DRIVES).