I've been trying to make use of ResourceUtilization to backup a 1TB Oracle
database directly to tape (4 drives), but am just about ready to give up
on it.

My objective is to have the TSM Client open 4 concurrent data sessions,
each backing up a separate filespace going to a separate tape drive,
utilizing all 4 tape drives 100% of the time.  My plan was to bind all 20
filespaces to an MC whose CopyGroup is directed to a tapepool, and set
client ResourceUtilization to 5.  I expected the TSM Client to initiate 4
concurrent data sessions/threads, and the TSM Server to mount/use 4 tapes,
1 per thread.

Not so.   With ResourceUtilization=5, TSM Client opened 5 server sessions,
but only 2 sessions went into MediaW status and only 2 tape-mounts were
performed by the server.  2 sessions remained in IdleW status.  I
confirmed all drives/paths were online.

With ResourceUtilization=7, TSM Client opened 7 sessions with the server.
4 went into MediaW state immediately.  However, the server only mounted 1
tape.  3 sessions sat in MediaW and 2 in IdleW status for almost 50
minutes before I terminated the test.  Throughout the test 'q mount'
reported only 1 in-use tape and no additional pending mounts.  There were
no mount-related errors in the TSM Server Activity Log and no sign of
problems in the Client schedlog.

With ResourceUtilization=10 (max), TSM Client opened 8 sessions with the
server.  4 went into MediaW immediately and shortly after that 4 tapes
were mounted and in-use.  This is almost the desired behavior.  However, 3
other sessions sat in IdleW the whole time, and the TSM Client & Server
logs provided very little insight or progress-reporting.   It also
appeared that only one thread/session (the 1st filespace backed up) was
actively appending to the schedlog, even though 4 tapes were
mounted/in-use and Collocation=Filespace was set on the TSM Server
tapepool.

With ResourceUtilization, it seems that I can neither predict nor see what
is actually happening.  On a 1 TB database backup comprised of >20
filespaces that will take up to 24 hours to complete, I absolutely must
have the ability to accurately control and monitor the progress/status of
the backup.  ResourceUtilization isn't giving me that control or insight.

Comments?........rsvp, thanks

Kent Monthei
GlaxoSmithKline