Patent ID: 7478194

Claim:
A method of processing a request requiring that a first volume of removable storage media be mounted on a storage device, comprising: determining whether the storage device is available; and in the event it is determined that the storage device is not available because it currently has mounted on it a second volume of removable storage media associated with a data mover: determining whether the data mover should be asked to permit the second volume to be removed from the storage device so that the first volume can be mounted thereon; and in the event it is determined that the data mover should be asked to permit the second volume to be removed from the storage device so that the first volume can be mounted thereon: (1) prompting the data mover to provide an indication that the second volume may be dismounted from the storage device, wherein the data mover is configured to respond to a prompt to provide an indication that a volume of removable storage media associated with the data mover may be dismounted from a storage device by: determining whether an operation associated with the volume is finished; and in the event it is determined that the operation is finished, providing an indication that the volume of removable storage media may be dismounted; and (2) selecting as the storage device a compatible storage device that best satisfies a preemption criteria, wherein a storage device that is not owned better satisfies the preemption criteria than a storage device that is owned.