This large amount of data must all be stored and protected, and this data must be quickly and readily accessible. With more primary workloads ending on tape, response time requirements have become more demanding. 

Due to cost pressures, businesses are enforcing a Tier-Technology environment. Older or not often-used data must be on less expensive storage, whereas highly accessed data must stay on primary storage, which enables fast access. Applications such as Content Manager, Hierarchical Storage Manager (HSM), or output archiver are rule-based, and are able to shift data from one storage tier to another, which can include tape. If you are considering using such applications, the tier concept needs to be planned carefully. 

## 3.1.3 Challenges of technology progress 

With advanced technology, there are challenges, such as having many new options to meet many client needs. For example, the TS7700 has many options regarding where data can be located, and where and how it must be replicated. Investing some time in choosing the correct set of rules helps you meet your requirements. 

Also, the TS7700 itself decides which workloads must be prioritized. Depending on the cluster availability in the grid, actual workload, or other storage conditions, the copy queues might be delayed. In addition, the TS7700 automates many decisions to provide the most value. This dynamic behavior can sometimes result in unexpected behaviors or delays. Understanding how your environment behaves, and where your data is stored at any point in time, is key to having a successful implementation, including the following considerations: 

GLYPH<SM590000> During a mount, a remote Tape Volume Cache (TVC) was chosen over a local TVC. 

GLYPH<SM590000> Copies are intentionally delayed due to configuration parameters, yet they were expected to complete sooner. 

GLYPH<SM590000> Copy Export sets do not include all of the expected content because the export was initiated from a cluster that was not configured to receive a replica of all the content. 

A reaction might be to configure your environment to define synchronous and immediate copies to all locations, or to set all overrides. This likely increases the configuration capacity and bandwidth needs, which can introduce negative results. Planning and working with your IBM account team so that the optimal settings can be configured helps eliminate any unexpected behaviors. 

Other features, such as scratch allocation assistance (SAA) and device allocation assistance (DAA), might affect your methodology of drive allocation, whereas some customizing parameters must always be used if you are a Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS) user. 

So, it is essential for you to understand these mechanisms to choose the best configuration and customize your environment. You need to understand the interactions and dependencies to plan for a successful implementation. 

Important:  There is no “one solution that fits all requirements.” Do not introduce complexity when it is not required. Allow IBM to help you look at your data profile and requirements so that the best solution can be implemented for you. 

