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Band - Range or group

Enhanced Definition

In the context of IBM z/OS and mainframe systems, a "band" conceptually refers to a defined, contiguous range or a logical grouping of resources, data, or performance metrics. It is used to establish boundaries, categorize items, or manage allocations within specific thresholds, facilitating organization and control within complex enterprise environments.

Key Characteristics

- Defined Boundaries: A band is characterized by explicit start and end points or criteria that define its extent, whether for physical resources like storage or logical groupings of data.
- Context-Specific Application: The interpretation and application of "band" vary significantly based on the mainframe subsystem or utility it's applied to, such as storage management, data processing, or workload management.
- Facilitates Management: By segmenting or grouping elements, bands enable more granular control, optimized allocation, and targeted monitoring of system components or data.
- Logical or Physical: Can represent a physical range (e.g., a series of cylinders on a DASD volume) or a logical grouping (e.g., records falling within a specific value range).

Use Cases

- DASD Space Allocation: Defining a specific range of cylinders or tracks on a Direct Access Storage Device (DASD) volume for a dataset using JCL parameters like SPACE=(CYL,(primary,secondary,index)) or UNIT=(device,P,,(start_cyl,end_cyl)) for specific volume ranges.
- Data Sorting and Reporting: Grouping records in a dataset into "bands" based on a range of