In existing DFSMShsm environments, as data sets age, they are often migrated to tape (ML2 in DFSMShsm terms). Since tape is accessed as serial storage, when a data set expires or is deleted, it leaves a gap of unused space on the tape. To recover the unused space, DFSMShsm provides a recycle function: reading each tape and rewriting the data sets without the gaps. This consumes z/OS processor time. Alternatively, DFSMShsm can migrate new z/OS data sets to cloud objects (MLC in DFSMShsm terms). These cloud objects, whether stored in a TS7700 virtual tape library or in internal or external cloud storage, are accessed directly instead of serially. Unlike ML2 data, they are not subject to recycling in DFSMShsm; and unlike serial tape data, they do not create contention issues when multiple applications need to access different data on the same real or virtual tape.