Large data centers often offer their services to several customers or they work for separate groups within a large company. In this case a customer or group operates with a specific system or group of systems. This grouping of systems can be transferred to MAREN by defining domains. The information on the domains is stored in the MAREN catalog.
The users access only those tapes which are assigned to the systems of their domain. They cannot access the tapes of another domain. They obtain also no information about them.
When domains are used, the MAREN network is split into different groups.
A Domain Administrator (DA) performs the administrative functions in a domain. An All-Domain Administrator (ADA) defines the domains and administers the entire MAREN catalog. The ADA also has the rights of a DA in the domains.
A MAREN network in which no domains are defined can also be regarded as a network in which all systems and tapes are combined in a single domain. This is then known as the standard domain. In some outputs after SHOW statements the standard domain is therefore displayed even if you are working without domains.
The MAREN administrator has the task of creating and managing domains. This is described in the “MAREN System Administrator Guide” [1].