Pool overview
Pools are defined in SET statements within the SMPOOLxx PARMLIB member. SET statement parameters are used to specify the pool name and other pool characteristics. INC and EXC statements that follow the SET statement determine the volumes to be included in or excluded from the pool. The SMMSYSxx POOL parameter is used to specify the suffix of the SMPOOLxx member to be used. The SMPOOLxx member is read during SVOS startup and is used by all
BMC AMI Storage
components: Allocation, Reporting, and Automation.
Pools can define either DASD or tape pools. DASD pools are used across the BMC AMI Storage product line. Tape pools are only used by the TAPEPOOL function of the Allocation component. Pools can contain SMS and non-SMS volumes.
Volumes can be selected for inclusion or exclusion in a pool based on numerous volume characteristics. The use of wildcards allows pools to be built and maintained dynamically, so that the pool definitions do not need to be updated every time a new volume is brought online. For metrics that you can use to define volumes in a pool, see INC-and-EXC-pool-parameters.
Only the Configuration menu in the Reporting component reports on offline volumes.. The rest of the Reporting component and the Allocation and Automation components do not report or process against offline volumes. Offline volumes can be defined to a pool. When you use the VARY command to bring a volume online, BMC AMI Storage includes the online volume in the pool automatically.
Pools are managed by BMC AMI Storage according to a policy member. Pools are assigned to a policy by using statements in the SMPOOLxx member definition. BMC AMI Storage then manages Reporting and Automation activity against the pool according to the owning policy. Policies are used to schedule recurring BMC AMI Storage activity against a pool or group of pools. For more information, see Assigning-pools-to-a-policy.
The SMPOOLxx member is a required member, even in installations where pooling is not used. As distributed, the SMPOOLxx member contains some standard definitions that can be used until site-specific pooling statements can be created.
When the product is started, the active pool configuration can be seen in the GPCNFG view within the BMC AMI Storage interface. From here, selecting a pool presents a list of options for further reporting and managing of the pool. A link to this view is available through the Configuration menu.
The SMPOOLxx member can be edited from the Pools option on the EZSRMP menu. For more information, see Maintaining-pool-and-subpool-definitions and Editing-definition-members.
As distributed, all non-SMS volumes are assigned to pools based on the first three characters of the volume serial number. The first three characters of each volume is used to form the pool name. All volumes with the same first three characters are included in the pool.
Throughout BMC AMI Storage pools, groups, and subpools are commonly referred to as a groups or pools. Unless otherwise noted, the use of the words group or pool is intended to refer to a storage group, a pool, or a subpool.