Hello,

          I am running TSM 4.1 on OS/390 and using 3490E tapes. Since the
tapes themselves and the drives that use them are aging, I get several tapes
that go to read-only status due to write errors each week. I am currently
doing MOVE DATA on these volumes then UPD VOL 123456 ACCESS=READW after the
data is moved off of the tape. My question is does an AUDIT VOL 123456
actually verify the data on the tape or does it just verify the database
entries for the volume?  I know that a move data function, by its very
nature, verifies that the data can be read. It also has the advantage of
getting the data off of a suspect tape.  However the disadvantage is that
two drives as opposed to one are required for move data and in most cases
the tapes are OK and the write error is due to a drive hiccup. I would like
to hear your thoughts on this.

    Take care,
          Al

Alan Davenport
Senior Storage Administrator
Selective Insurance
alan.davenport AT selectvie DOT com
(973) 948-1306