MVS Fast Positioning dramatically cuts the time required to position a tape to a data set.
Fast Positioning by Control-M/Tape works as follows:
At time of data set creation, Control-M/Tape retrieves the block ID of the data set from the operating system, and stores it in the Control-M/Tape Media Database. The block ID identifies the data set location on the tape.
During subsequent access of the data set, Control-M/Tape retrieves the block ID from the Media Database, and passes it to the operating system, which then fast positions the tape to the specific location.
