When an object is ingested, copies are made to all required locations, including Archive Nodes, based on the Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) rules defined for your StorageGRID system. The Archive Node acts as a client to a TSM server, and the TSM client libraries are installed on the Archive Node by the StorageGRID software installation process. Object data directed to the Archive Node for storage is saved directly to the TSM server as it is received. The Archive Node does not stage object data before saving it to the TSM server, nor does it perform object aggregation. However, the Archive Node can submit multiple copies to the TSM server in a single transaction when data rates warrant.

After the Archive Node saves object data to the TSM server, the object data is managed by the TSM server using its lifecycle/retention policies. These retention policies must be defined to be compatible with the operation of the Archive Node. That is, object data saved by the Archive Node must be stored indefinitely and must always be accessible by the Archive Node, unless it is deleted by the Archive Node.

There is no connection between the StorageGRID system's ILM rules and the TSM server's lifecycle/retention policies. Each operates independently of the other; however, as each object is ingested into the StorageGRID system, you can assign it a TSM management class. This management class is passed to the TSM server along with object data. Assigning different management classes to different object types permits you to configure the TSM server to place object data in different storage pools, or to apply different migration or retention policies as required. For example, objects identified as database backups (temporary content than can be overwritten with newer data) might be treated differently than application data (fixed content that must be retained indefinitely).

The Archive Node can be integrated with a new or an existing TSM server; it does not require a dedicated TSM server. TSM servers can be shared with other clients, provided that the TSM server is sized appropriately for the maximum expected load. TSM must be installed on a server or virtual machine separate from the Archive Node.

It is possible to configure more than one Archive Node to write to the same TSM server; however, this configuration is only recommended if the Archive Nodes write different sets of data to the TSM server. Configuring more than one Archive Node to write to the same TSM server is not recommended when each Archive Node writes copies of the same object data to the archive. In the latter scenario, both copies are subject to a single point of failure (the TSM server) for what are supposed to be independent, redundant copies of object data.

Archive Nodes don't make use of the Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) component of TSM.