Deallocating Volumes in a Silo

If you no longer need a volume in a silo for Backup, you can deallocate the volume. Deallocation is basically the same operation as removing a volume from an autochanger. Although the robotic mechanism cannot load the volume, the entries in the Backup media database remain intact. If you allocate the volume again later, Backup can retrieve the data from it.

Use deallocation when your silo license limits the number of slots you can use or when you move data offsite for safer storage. In the case where the license limits the number of slots, you might be able to leave the volumes in the silo, so you can easily reallocate the volumes when you need to access the data on them.

The allocation operation is not automatic. You must manually allocate the volumes again and reinventory them to let Backup access the data. In the case of removing the volume from the silo for off-site storage, you can either deallocate it with Backup and then use the silo management software to eject it from the silo, or you can perform both operations at the same time from the command line with the nsrjb -x -Txxxx -w command.

STK silos currently can only eject one volume at a time. The silo operator must remove each volume before another nsrjb -x -w command can be issued. If you deallocate and withdraw multiple volumes, they are all deallocated, but only the first is ejected. This limitation does not exist on EMASS/Grau or IBM 3494 silos.