How to Allocate Volumes in a Silo

When you allocate volumes, you tell Backup which volumes it can use. Because more than one software application can use a silo, it is possible that a different application could read or write to volumes that belong to Backup. To prevent this problem, most silo management programs include methods of limiting access to volumes based on the hostname of the machine on which Backup and the other programs run. Backup does not provide any method for setting up this sort of protection; it must be configured by the silo management program.

When you allocate a volume, Backup queries the silo management software to verify that the volume you requested exists. If the volume exists, the volume is allocated to Backup. If the volume does not exist, the following message is displayed:

barcode xxxxxx is not present in the silo and was not added 

If you are allocating a range of volumes, the allocation continues after displaying the message. The message is informational and does not indicate a Backup error.

To allocate a silo volume, use either:

• The Add Library Volumes dialog box in the Backup administration program. Refer to the online help for instructions.

• The nsrjb -a -T barcode command. Refer to the nsrjb man page for further information on this nsrjb command, and refer to the stli man page for the proper format of barcode templates. You can use only a single barcode identifier or template after the -T option, but you can use the -T option more than once with the same nsrjb command.

To deposit volumes into a silo and then allocate them (on silos that require manual depositing, such as EMASS/Grau), place the volumes in the insert area, then issue the following command:

# nsrjb -a -Txxxx -d

On StorageTek and IBM silos, the silo management software deposits volumes automatically.