Removable Storage and Backup

Removable Storage provides services to applications and system administrators that facilitate the use, sharing, and management of removable media devices, such as tape drives and robotic storage libraries. The availability of Removable Storage technology eliminates the need for independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop customized solutions and support for these devices on a per-device basis. More importantly, Removable Storage enables multiple applications to share expensive removable media storage devices. This allows the focus of storage applications to be directed to customer features rather than hardware issues.

As shown in Figure 18.1, Removable Storage provides a single set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow applications to catalog all removable media (except floppy disks and similar small-capacity media), such as disk, tape, and optical media, which are either stored on shelves (offline) or in libraries (online). Also, by disguising the complexities of underlying robotic library systems, Removable Storage both lowers the costs of developing and operating storage applications and provides consistency to customers who purchase these applications.

Figure 18.1 Removable Media with and Without Removable Storage

Removable Storage uses media pools to organize media. Media pools control access to media; group media by their use; allow media to be shared across applications; and allow such sharing to be tracked.