deggs1@gmail.com wrote:
> Guys,

See below:

> I'm extreemly new to Informix and have to set up a database backup with
> netbackup on Solaris. I know Oracle pretty well, so am after some
> guidence on how to set Informix up with netbackup and perhaps use some
> references to Oracle?
>
> Some questions firstly:
>
> 1. I assume you can do online backups with Informix (put the database
> into backup mode, backup the main database tablespaces, then backup the
> transaction logs afterwards so you can roll forward on these), similar
> to Oracle?

Actually it's even easier than that. Informix was designed for online
archiving. You just run the archive while the server is being accessed
live, there is no back up mode. After backing up the disk pages for a
dbspace (set of related disk partitions) the archive appends pre-images of
any pages modified during the archive. The live server is not affected and
there is no roll forward of the server needed after the archive completes.

> 2. What are these transaction logs called? i.e. Oracle archive/redo
> logs equivelent.

IDS does not have a direct physical equivalent of the Oracle redo logs. The
emotional equivalent are the logical logs and physical logs. Physical logs
contain pre-images of pages modified between check points and are used only
in the case of a catastrophic failure to restore those pages to a pristeen
condition prior to reapplying the logical (aka transaction) log records.
Logical logs contain transaction data required for rollback if a transaction
is cancelled and server recovery in case of a crash. They are also used to
roll forward from an archive restore to the latest status of the server if
all disk is lost.

> 3. Do you have to set up a seperate database like you do with Oracle if
> you want to use RMAN? i.e. the equivelent of RMAN cataloge database? If
> so, could someone give details how this is done.

If you use the native archiver, ontape, you do not have to do anything
except configure the tape device. If you are using onbar to interface with
an external archiver like netbackup then yes a configuration/history
database is set up.

> 4. What's this ONBAR all about? Is it an Informix tool to do
> backup/restore without a 3rd party software like netbackup? If so, is
> it the equivelent of RMAN for Oracle?

That would be ontape. Onbar is the interface to 3rd party archivers like
netbackup giving an explicit way to begin an archive from the database side
rather than from the netbackup side. Both are possible.

> 5. How does Informix 'plug in' to netbackup? Oracle uses an RMAN shared
> library that gets installed into /<install-dir>/db_ext and, depending
> on the versions, have to symlink it back into Oracle. Do you have to do
> the same for Informix

There is a similar shared library. See the Backup and Restore manual online.

> Thats all for now, but I guess more quesions may come out of some
> answers I (hopefully) get :-)
>

Art S. Kagel