All free (unprotected, empty) media can be grouped in a free pool and shared between all media pools that support free pool usage.
•Reduced operator intervention for backup
Assuming that all free media are shared, the need for mount requests is reduced.
Free pool properties
A free pool:
•can be created manually or automatically when you configure the use of one. You cannot delete free pools if they are linked to a normal pool or are not empty.
•is different from a regular pool in that it does not provide allocation policy options.
•contains only Data Protector media (no unknown or blank media).
Media quality calculation
Media quality is calculated equally between pools. That means that medium condition factors will be configurable for a free pool only and will be inherited by all pools using the free pool.
Free pool limitations
Free pools have the following limitations:
•You cannot select different condition factors for each pool. Instead, all pools that use a free pool use condition factors configured for this free pool.
•You cannot move protected media to a free pool and unprotected media to a regular pool that has automatic deallocation configured.
•You cannot use some operations such as Import, Copy and Recycle on media in a free pool.
•Pools with magazine support cannot use a free pool.
•You may experience some temporary inconsistencies in pools when using free pools, for example, when there is an unprotected medium in a regular pool waiting for the
•If you change the protection of media after its expiry (for example to Permanent), though the media may be in a free pool, they are not allocated for backup.
•When allocated from a free pool, media with different data format type can be used and are automatically reformatted, for example NDMP media are reformatted to normal media.
For further information on free pools, see the Data Protector online Help index: “free pools, characteristics”.
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