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Save Commands and APIs for Tape Compression

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Abstract

IBM i 7.5 and IBM i 7.4 add options to Save commands and APIs for Tape compression.

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You are in: IBM i Technology Updates > General IBM i Operating System > Save Commands and APIs for Tape Compression
Software data compression for saves to tape devices was previously not available for the higher compression options.  Those requiring high compression needed to use a physical tape device that supported device level compression.  IBM i now adds software data compression support for tape.  This support is for all existing Save and Restore interfaces that already support compression for save files and optical devices, except SAVLICPGM.  With the PTFs listed at the end of this section, IBM i supports the full range of data compression in the software for both physical and virtual tape devices.  The capability for data compression in the software is especially useful for virtual tape in cloud configurations where physical tape is not an option.

Data compression in the software for saves to tape devices includes support for most existing Save and Restore commands and APIs that support save file and optical compression today. All existing software compression options (such as *LOW, *MEDIUM, *HIGH, and *ZLIB) are supported. The ZLIB algorithm automatically uses the on-chip Nest Accelerator (NX) GZIP when the function runs in Power10 compatibility mode on a Power10 processor.  Therefore, ZLIB is faster and less CPU-intensive than the other compression options.

There is no change in the use of Restore processing. The Restore process automatically determines the compression that was used.

The support extends to all currently supported tape devices, as well as virtual tape.

Here is a list of the Save commands that support tape compression:

  • SAV
  • SAVCFG
  • SAVCHGOBJ
  • SAVDLO
  • SAVLIB
  • SAVOBJ
  • SAVSECDTA
  • SAVSYS
  • SAVSYSINF
Here is a list of the APIs that support tape compression:
  • Save Object List (QSRSAVO)
  • Save Object (QsrSave)
  • Save to Application (QaneSava)
 
For more information about this topic, see the following sections in IBM Documentation:
 
Required PTFs for this support:
IBM i 7.5:
  - PTF 5770SS1 - SI84525
  - PTF 5770999 - MF71323
  - PTF 5770BR1 - SI84629 (if you are using BRMS)
IBM i 7.4:
  - PTF 5770SS1 - SI84526
  - PTF 5770999 - MF71322
  - PTF 5770BR1 - SI84643 (if you are using BRMS)

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Document Information

Modified date:
10 October 2023

UID

ibm17048696

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