A tape management system (TMS) is computer software that manages the usage and retention of computer backup tapes. This may be done as a stand-alone function or as part of a broader backup software package.
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The role of a tape management system
A tape management system (TMS) is usually used in conjunction with backup applications and are generally used to manage magnetic tape media that contains backup information and other electronically stored information. Tape management systems are used by organizations to locate, track, and rotate media according to an organizations internal policies as well as government regulations.
Stand-alone tape management systems
Stand-alone tape management systems are predominant on mainframe platforms where tape is used as both a backup and base load storage medium.
Mainframe systems such as IBM's z/OS do provide some basic support for tape inventory control via the OS Catalog but as cataloging files is optional it is usually required that an additional software package does the following:
These operations are usually achieved by using operating system hooks to intercept file open and close operations.
Stand-alone tape management systems
Robotic control/management systems
Distributed systems
Backup applications
See List of backup software