If your 3590 drives have the green 2x sticker on the back of them (open the
cabinet and look), they can support K cartridges.  3590H drives can support
K-Carts.  The K carts have a different knotch configuration than the J
cartridges.  There is no issue with having a mixed bag except it throws off
your estimated capacity numbers.

The K cartridges also require Turtle cases to ship them if you intend to use
certified cases.  They are a lot more sensitive to being damaged.

Paul D. Seay, Jr.
Technical Specialist
Northrop Grumman Information Technology
757-688-8180


-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Johanson [mailto:fred AT MIDWAY.UCHICAGO DOT EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 2:50 PM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Mixing 3590E and 3590K volumes


My 3494 is filled with 3590E carts.  If I were to use 3590K carts, my robot
wouldn't be so filled.  This is the current definition of the DEVC TAPE:

>       Device Class Name: TAPE
>  Device Access Strategy: Sequential
>      Storage Pool Count: 8
>             Device Type: 3590
>                  Format: DRIVE
>   Est/Max Capacity (MB):
>             Mount Limit: 7
>        Mount Wait (min): 60
>   Mount Retention (min): 2

If I were to start introducing the longer format carts into my system, would
TSM use them interchangeably with the old ones, i.e., would reclamation
write 2 Es on a K and 1/2 a K on an E, or would I have to have two separate
device classes?

TIA