Doug,
        I set up a TSM environment at a remote office with a desktop PC
as the server and a single 8MM tape drive as the only tape, and about
200GB of disk space (not that I am recommending this as design goal,
mind you!).  It backed up 6 servers each night, and I had a secretary in
that office who received the requests for tape mounts during the day for
the backup stgpools and reclamations.  I set up an icon on her desktop
which would bring up the administrator's window in "-console" mode so
she could see the mount requests.  
        So yes, it can be done, but it takes somebody willing to swap
multiple tapes during the day.  One thing I would suggest is that you
don't use a scratch pool. If you do it that way, then your tape operator
has to go looking at your storage pools every day to figure out which
tapes are now scratches, because TSM will ask the operator to mount a
scratch tape. Instead, label your tapes and then define them into the
storage pool you want them in.  I have found that makes it much easier
for your tape operator to do her job.  TSM always asks for a specific
tape to be mounted, instead of asking for a scratch tape, and the tape
operator just does what she is requested to do, without having to
understand a lot about the process.   

        Having said that, are you sure you can't afford a smallish tape
library with more than one drive in it?  They really aren't that
expensive, are they?  If you consider your tape operator's time, it
should be possible to justify a small tape library. 


Best Regards,

John D. Schneider 
Phone: 314-364-3150 
Cell: 314-750-8721
Email:  John.Schneider AT Mercy DOT net 


-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of
Thorneycroft, Doug
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 4:59 PM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] TSM and single LTO2 drive

Yes you can, see "Reclaiming Volumes in a Storage Pool with One Drive"
in
the Admin Guide.

-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU]On Behalf Of
Jerome Alet
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 2:52 PM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: TSM and single LTO2 drive


Hi,

I'd like to know if it's possible to use TSM in an environment with only
a single LTO2 tape drive and a few TB of hard disk space.

In particular I'd like to know how tape reclamation could be done, or if
it can be done at all.

Thanks in advance

Jerome Alet
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