Memorex Telex International NV’s Memorex Computer Supplies has come out with the ACE 3480 Media Management System, an automated software tool that runs under MVS/XA and MVS/ESA and tracks 3480 tape cartridge media performance by media vendor, by time period, by individual or range of cartridges, and by hardware device. It provides detailed, summarised, and comparative information on media performance and efficiency of media use, and information on trends within the tape subsystems. In addition, it monitors hardware and operations, and can provide performance information in detailed, summarised or comparative formats to detect on-coming problems both in drives and media, identifying cartridges experiencing multiple temporary errors, which can signal a possible permanent error. Currently, says Memorex, the only software products for the 3480 concentrate on hardware failure analysis and management of data stored on tape, and no mainframe software tracks and reports on the performance and efficient use of the media, except the new ACE product. ACE operates with any tape library size, and costs a one-time $15,000, which includes documentation, first year maintenance, with support for installation and training. It is also offered with Memorex’s 3480 cartridges.
