If you have several Z-boxes or LPARS sharing the tape drives...You would
have some offline when they are online to other systems. Unless you're in a
Sysplex.... This was where we would get bit. The TSM server wasn't on the
'production' LPAR and the operator would vary the drives offline and online
to the production LPAR leaving only 1 or 2 drives for TSM. Plus DFSHShsm was
on this LPAR...primary and secondary space management took up drives... Even
if you have only those physically attached drives defined in HCD,you can end
up with tape drive allocation due to other processes and users using the
drives. Unless you can dedicate drives and an LPAR/Z-box just to TSM,
there's always the possibility of a drive not being available. You get some
DFU running a big SAS program using 5-tape drives....the words justifiable
homicide comes to mind! :-)

Bill Boyer
DSS, Inc.
"Backup my harddrive...how do I put it in reverse?" - ??