Goal Systems International Inc has announced availability of EPIC/MVS, an automated tape management system for the MVS operating system: under the GoalPlex architecture initiative, EPIC/MVS is integrated with other Goal products; also, EPIC/MVS offers a direct interface to the StorageTek 4400 Automated Cartridge System; it is a name-driven, not volume serial number-driven, and this provides some protection to the dataset level as well as providing control for alphanumeric tape volume serial numbers; the product maintains a catalogue entry for each dataset within its control, and it uses this to determine where files can be found, in which pool they can be written, how to write to each dataset, how long to retain a dataset and how many versions of a dataset to retain; EPIC/MVS offers both batch and on-line catalogue maintenance facilities, and a Vault Management System that controls the movement of tapes to and from offsite storage locations; pricing is from $23,800 to $66,600.
