eBook
Top 7 Out-of-Space Recovery Features Your IBM Z Storage Management Solution Needs
Mainframe computing has always been about efficiency and reliability. But those qualities depend on one critical foundation: storage. When storage fails, or when space unexpectedly runs out, jobs fail, systems slow down, and business services come to a grinding halt.
If you’ve ever had a batch cycle delayed by an out-of-space condition, you know the ripple effects. A single B37 abend can create cascading failures across dependent workloads. A missed SLA might delay financial postings, prevent payroll from running on time, or disrupt regulatory reporting. What looks like a simple storage hiccup in the data center can quickly turn into lost revenue, damaged trust, and long nights for your operations team.
The good news is that modern IBM Z storage management solutions are designed to prevent these issues. But not all solutions are created equal. Some focus only on SMS-managed datasets. Others don’t offer proactive recovery features, leaving you to clean up the mess after an abend.
So how do you know if your current tools are giving you the protection and capabilities you really need? That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll walk you through the seven out-of-space recovery features every storage management solution should deliver so you can evaluate your IBM Z storage management solution options.
Fill out the form and get instant access to the eBook.
EBOOKTop 7 Out-of-Space Recovery Features Your IBM Z Storage Management Solution Needs
Why Storage Still Keeps You Up at Night
Mainframe computing has always been about efficiency and reliability. But those qualities depend on one critical foundation: storage. When storage fails, or when space unexpectedly runs out, jobs fail, systems slow down, and business services come to a grinding halt.
If you’ve ever had a batch cycle delayed by an out-of-space condition, you know the ripple effects. A single B37 abend can create cascading failures across dependent workloads. A missed SLA might delay financial postings, prevent payroll from running on time, or disrupt regulatory reporting. What looks like a simple storage hiccup in the data center can quickly turn into lost revenue, damaged trust, and long nights for your operations team.
The good news is that modern IBM Z storage management solutions are designed to prevent these issues. But not all solutions are created equal. Some focus only on SMS-managed datasets. Others don’t offer proactive recovery features, leaving you to clean up the mess after an abend.
So how do you know if your current tools are giving you the protection and capabilities you really need? That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll walk you through the seven out-of-space recovery features every storage management solution should deliver so you can evaluate your IBM Z storage management solution options.
Feature 1 Broad Dataset Coverage
A storage management solution is only as strong as its scope. If it only works for SMS-managed datasets, or if it ignores certain types of VSAM or sequential files, you’re left exposed.
Think of it this way: storage failures don’t discriminate. They can happen in production or test, on tape or disk, in PDS or VSAM. A solution that doesn’t cover all these scenarios is like an insurance policy with too many exclusions—it sounds good on paper, but leaves you vulnerable when you need it most.
Mini Case Study – Retail
A global retailer ran into repeated out-of-space errors on non-SMS datasets used for nightly point-of-sale batch updates. Their existing tools didn’t address these jobs, meaning IT staff had to manually intervene during peak shopping seasons. After implementing a solution with full dataset coverage—including SMS, non-SMS, and tape—the retailer eliminated late-night interventions, saving over 40 staff hours each month during critical holiday cycles.
Broad dataset coverage ensures you can apply consistent rules and recovery actions everywhere in your environment, not just in isolated pockets.
Syncsort™ Space Recovery System handles SMS and non-SMS, EF and non-EF, VSAM andnon-VSAM, EXCP and PDS data sets, even tape data sets.
Feature 2 Multiple Recovery Attempts
When a space error occurs, recovery isn’t always one-size-fits-all. Different workloads and datasets need different approaches. A modern solution should provide multiple recovery strategies and apply them intelligently.
Sometimes reducing a dataset’s primary allocation request is enough to resolve the error. Other times, adjusting secondary extents makes more sense. If neither works, you may need to allow multivolume handling but only as a last resort. And in truly critical cases, you may want the system to pause and prompt an operator before taking action.
Mini Case Study – Banking
A regional bank processing loan applications overnight faced recurring space errors in production. Initially, IT staff had to rerun jobs, delaying approvals and frustrating customers. With a rules-based system that offered flexible recovery strategies, the bank allowed jobs to complete without manual rework. The recovery logic first reduced primary allocations, then adjusted secondary requests, and only used multivolume as a fallback. Customer-facing services improved, and overnight operations stabilized.
Flexibility in recovery turns a potentially catastrophic failure into a non-event.
Syncsort™ Space Recovery System will attempt multiple approaches to free up needed space. It can reduce the primary space by a percentage until it reaches an installation defined minimum. It can also reduce the amount of secondary space to the largest extent on the volume trying to use any available space or increase the secondary space to conserve extents for data sets with very small secondary amounts. Additionally, Syncsort™ Space Recovery System can make the data set multivolume in an attempt to prevent the out-of-space error.
Feature 3 Visibility and Traceability
When a space error is prevented or resolved, you need to know what happened. Was a rule applied? Did the system automatically adjust an allocation? If so, how?
Visibility and traceability are crucial. Without them, you’re left guessing why a job ran differently than expected. Worse, you lose the ability to tune your system for future efficiency.
Look for a storage management solution that provides detailed rule tracing and diagnostics. You should be able to see:
- Which rules were executed?
- Why they were triggered?
- What changes were made?
Mini Case Study – Insurance
An insurance provider’s actuarial team complained about inconsistent job runtimes. Operations couldn’t explain why some batch jobs ran 30% longer than others. After deploying a solution with detailed trace reporting, the IT team discovered that certain datasets were repeatedly hitting space errors and being recovered mid-cycle. With this visibility, they fine-tuned allocation standards, cutting batch time variability in half and making job performance predictable again.
With traceability, you’re not just solving yesterday’s issues you’re building a smarter environment for tomorrow.
Syncsort™ Space Recovery System has extensive rule tracing. Which can easily generate a trace showing the complete selection logic. Additionally, Syncsort™ Space Recovery System has module tracing to assist in resolving problems with SRS logic flow.
Feature 4 Integrity Checking
Not every recovery option is safe for every job. Creating a multivolume dataset might solve a space problem—but if the application can’t handle it, you could turn a B37 abend into something much worse.
That’s why runtime integrity checking is critical. Your solution should confirm that any recovery action is compatible with the job, dataset, and access method. This prevents automation from introducing new errors or corrupting data.
Mini Case Study – Government
A government agency once attempted to resolve space errors by automatically extending datasets across multiple volumes. Unfortunately, one critical workload didn’t support multivolume datasets, leading to repeated job failures that delayed benefit payments. With integrity checks in place, the system now validates workload compatibility before taking action. As a result, payment jobs complete reliably, and compliance risks are minimized.
Integrity checking acts as the guardrail that keeps well-meaning automation from making things worse.
Syncsort™ Space Recovery System has multiple checks to ensure the program, the access method and use by other jobs does not expose the installation to data loss or turn a B37 into a 0C4.
Feature 5 Comprehensive Reporting
Storage management isn’t just about preventing abends in the moment—it’s also about learning from them. Comprehensive reporting ensures you have the data you need to optimize workloads, predict growth, and demonstrate compliance.
The most effective solutions generate detailed logs, SMF records, or even alerts for each recovery attempt. They track both successes and failures, so you always know where improvements can be made. Summarized reports by job and dataset give you a clear picture of where space problems occur most often.
Mini Case Study – Healthcare
A healthcare provider running claims processing jobs struggled with unpredictable abends during peak enrollment periods. Reporting showed that one set of datasets consistently exceeded space thresholds. Armed with this data, IT adjusted allocation standards and pre-emptively increased space during high-demand periods. This not only reduced abends but also ensured smoother claims processing during open enrollment which is a critical time for patient satisfaction and compliance.
Reporting transforms storage management from reactive to proactive.
Syncsort™ Space Recovery System can generate log records, SMF records and even send an email on all successful and unsuccessful recovery attempts.
Feature 6 Flexible Secondary Space Handling
Secondary space allocation can make or break efficiency. If handled poorly, it leads to excessive extents, wasted storage, or job failures. This is probably the most common type of space error prevention performed.
A modern solution should dynamically adjust secondary space requests in real time, based on workload needs. Factors might include dataset size, the number of extents already used, the type of workload (production vs. test), and even the time of day.
Mini Case Study – Manufacturing
A manufacturer processing supply chain jobs often saw performance issues caused by datasets with hundreds of tiny extents. With a solution that dynamically adjusted secondary allocations, datasets were able to grow more efficiently, using fewer extents while reducing CPU time. The result: faster job completion, smoother supply chain operations, and reduced risk of production line delays.
Smart handling of secondary allocations balances efficiency with reliability.
With Syncsort™ Space Recovery System, if sufficient space cannot be obtained on the current volume, it will reduce the size of the secondary amount to that of the largest contiguous extent on the volume.
Feature 7 Centralized Rules Engine
Storage management rules can be complex. Without a centralized way to manage them, you risk inconsistency and administrative overhead.
That’s why a centralized rules engine is so valuable. Instead of scattering logic across SMS constructs or relying on manual JCL edits, policies are defined once and applied everywhere.
A strong rules engine allows for granular IF/THEN/ELSE logic, with criteria based on job name, dataset type, space request, and more. This gives you precise control without endless manual tuning.
Mini Case Study – Telecommunications
A telecom company supporting millions of customer accounts struggled with inconsistent storage policies across multiple LPARs. Each team managed rules differently, leading to duplication and errors. By consolidating rules into a central engine, the company unified policies and eliminated conflicts. Job failures decreased, and audit compliance improved, all while reducing the administrative workload.
Centralization simplifies governance and ensures consistency.
Like all Syncsort™ Storge Management products, Syncsort™ Space Recovery System uses a set of simple IF/THEN/ELSE rules to provide out-of-space error recovery for all types of data. These rules are executed at the time that space error recovery processing is required. This allows much more detailed control over recovery, including dataset and job-level granularity.
Pulling It All Together
Out-of-space conditions are as old as mainframes themselves. But just because the problem is old doesn’t mean it should still be keeping you up at night.
A capable IBM Z storage management solution should deliver:
- Broad dataset coverage
- Multiple recovery strategies
- Strong visibility and traceability
- Integrity checking to prevent risky actions
- Comprehensive reporting for optimization and compliance
- Flexible secondary space handling
- A centralized rules engine
Together, these features ensure that your jobs complete successfully, your workloads stay efficient, and your business remains resilient—even under pressure.
Next Steps: Evaluating Your Environment
To learn more about Syncsort™ Space Recovery System and all the Syncsort™ Storage Management offerings from Precisely, visit precisely.com/product/precisely-syncsort/syncsort-storage-management or contact us today.
Take a moment to think about your current storage management approach. Does it give you coverage across all dataset types? Can it dynamically adjust allocations? Does it enforce standards automatically and consistently?
If the answer is “not always,” it may be time to re-evaluate. By looking for these eight essential features, you can make sure your storage management solution is truly up to the task of supporting today’s mission-critical workloads. With Syncsort™ Space Recovery System in place, out-of-space errors are not merely reduced, they are effectively eliminated.