Patent ID: 6954831

Claim:
A method for borrow processing in storage pools, the method comprising: allocating a plurality of physical volumes to a first storage pool; determining if the first storage pool has less than a threshold number of empty physical volumes; and if the first storage pool has less than the threshold number of empty physical volumes, then borrowing at least one empty physical volume to the first storage pool from a second storage pool that has a plurality of empty physical volumes wherein each of the plurality of empty physical volumes in the second storage pool is one of a plurality of media types, wherein the borrowing is performed according to a borrowing precedence that is based on a defined preference for media types in the first storage pool, and wherein according to the borrowing precedence: if the defined preference is for borrowing a specific media type only, then the defined preference for borrowing the specific media type only is satisfied first; if the defined preference is for borrowing a first media type and in the absence of the first media type borrowing a second media type, then the defined preference for borrowing the first media type and in the absence of the first media type borrowing the second media type is satisfied second; and if the defined preference is for borrowing any media type, then the defined preference for borrowing any media type is satisfied third.