I am a little worried that my tapes won't restore in a DR env. I am
thinking of creating a mksysb file and FTPing it into another server
(which is being backed up by TSM). How reliable is this method? I was
thinking of plaing the mksysb image in a NIM server. Does this work?
Any idea? I want to avoid using a tape/CD much as possible!

TIA

Mag wrote:
> I am a little worried that my tapes won't restore in a DR env.

Why? Bad tapes?

> I am
> thinking of creating a mksysb file and FTPing it into another server
> (which is being backed up by TSM). How reliable is this method?

Rhetorical question: have you looked at what's on a mksysb tape?

Why don't you just get a copy of sysback or whatever it's named now
that it's "part" of Tivoli and do this directly?

> I was
> thinking of plaing the mksysb image in a NIM server. Does this work?
> Any idea? I want to avoid using a tape/CD much as possible!

During a DR, tape is your friend.

When you find the network misconfigured, overloaded, etc., tape
is reliable and predictable.

You can never have too many tapes

Take a complete media set, including MLs, on CD, also.

Actually,

I am not too confident about the tapes/drives at my site. And this
isn't really for a DR excersise. I just want to ability of me not using
tapes (because I am not 100% sure if they are even being sent offsite).
I know for a fact, if I backup the system, and create a mksyb image and
have TSM pick up the backup, those tapes indeed are being sent offsite.
Thats why I want to use the TSM way...

suggestions?






base60 wrote:
> Mag wrote:
> > I am a little worried that my tapes won't restore in a DR env.
>
> Why? Bad tapes?
>
> > I am
> > thinking of creating a mksysb file and FTPing it into another server
> > (which is being backed up by TSM). How reliable is this method?
>
> Rhetorical question: have you looked at what's on a mksysb tape?
>
> Why don't you just get a copy of sysback or whatever it's named now
> that it's "part" of Tivoli and do this directly?
>
> > I was
> > thinking of plaing the mksysb image in a NIM server. Does this work?
> > Any idea? I want to avoid using a tape/CD much as possible!
>
> During a DR, tape is your friend.
>
> When you find the network misconfigured, overloaded, etc., tape
> is reliable and predictable.
>
> You can never have too many tapes
>
> Take a complete media set, including MLs, on CD, also.

Mag wrote:
> Actually,

FWIW: top-posting is considered "bad".

>
> I am not too confident about the tapes/drives at my site.

Then why would you be confident about the tapes that are used to
back up the TSM?

> And this
> isn't really for a DR excersise. I just want to ability of me not using
> tapes (because I am not 100% sure if they are even being sent offsite).

OK... is that your responsibility, did you ask and, if they aren't, is
it difficult to have the tapes in question added to the off-site tape
vault?

> I know for a fact, if I backup the system, and create a mksyb image and
> have TSM pick up the backup, those tapes indeed are being sent offsite.
> Thats why I want to use the TSM way...
>
> suggestions?

If this isn't something in your paygrade, boot it to mgmt and keep a
copy of the email expressing concern.

This is a political issue and not a technical one.

That said, I'd make as many backups as I could etc. within the
policy constraints of your location.

But make mgmt responsible for the issue.

They're paid to make decision.s Don't be a fallguy for some
gutless putz in mgmt.

Well said! :-)

I am somewhat more confident about my TSM server than these AIX mksysbs
:-)
thats all I was going at. I though I could avoid the office politics
talk, but even on usenet it comes and haunts me!




base60 wrote:
> Mag wrote:
> > Actually,
>
> FWIW: top-posting is considered "bad".
>
> >
> > I am not too confident about the tapes/drives at my site.
>
> Then why would you be confident about the tapes that are used to
> back up the TSM?
>
> > And this
> > isn't really for a DR excersise. I just want to ability of me not using
> > tapes (because I am not 100% sure if they are even being sent offsite).
>
> OK... is that your responsibility, did you ask and, if they aren't, is
> it difficult to have the tapes in question added to the off-site tape
> vault?
>
> > I know for a fact, if I backup the system, and create a mksyb image and
> > have TSM pick up the backup, those tapes indeed are being sent offsite.
> > Thats why I want to use the TSM way...
> >
> > suggestions?
>
> If this isn't something in your paygrade, boot it to mgmt and keep a
> copy of the email expressing concern.
>
> This is a political issue and not a technical one.
>
> That said, I'd make as many backups as I could etc. within the
> policy constraints of your location.
>
> But make mgmt responsible for the issue.
>
> They're paid to make decision.s Don't be a fallguy for some
> gutless putz in mgmt.

Mag wrote:
> Well said! :-)
>
> I am somewhat more confident about my TSM server than these AIX mksysbs
> :-)
> thats all I was going at. I though I could avoid the office politics
> talk, but even on usenet it comes and haunts me!
>
>
>
>
> base60 wrote:
> > Mag wrote:
> > > Actually,
> >
> > FWIW: top-posting is considered "bad".
> >
> > >
> > > I am not too confident about the tapes/drives at my site.
> >
> > Then why would you be confident about the tapes that are used to
> > back up the TSM?
> >
> > > And this
> > > isn't really for a DR excersise. I just want to ability of me not using
> > > tapes (because I am not 100% sure if they are even being sent offsite).
> >
> > OK... is that your responsibility, did you ask and, if they aren't, is
> > it difficult to have the tapes in question added to the off-site tape
> > vault?
> >
> > > I know for a fact, if I backup the system, and create a mksyb image and
> > > have TSM pick up the backup, those tapes indeed are being sent offsite.
> > > Thats why I want to use the TSM way...
> > >
> > > suggestions?
> >
> > If this isn't something in your paygrade, boot it to mgmt and keep a
> > copy of the email expressing concern.
> >
> > This is a political issue and not a technical one.
> >
> > That said, I'd make as many backups as I could etc. within the
> > policy constraints of your location.
> >
> > But make mgmt responsible for the issue.
> >
> > They're paid to make decision.s Don't be a fallguy for some
> > gutless putz in mgmt.

We use Storix http://www.storix.com and write the system backups it
creates to TSM. Works fine and I have sued it to restore a few times.
Only problem is that sometimes its difficult to get Storix to netboot a
server, although this normally seems to be if you have a weird network
setup, eg a firewall between servers you are booting from and
installing to.

So in a restore situation we sometimes have had to mess with teh
network a bit. Nothing major though.%

Mag wrote:
> I am a little worried that my tapes won't restore in a DR env. I am
> thinking of creating a mksysb file and FTPing it into another server
> (which is being backed up by TSM). How reliable is this method? I was
> thinking of plaing the mksysb image in a NIM server. Does this work?
> Any idea? I want to avoid using a tape/CD much as possible!
>
> TIA

Use NIM. We back up over 200 servers using mksysbs on NIM without
issue. We keep 2 copies on separate disk systems and backup 2x per
month. We do not mksysb to tape at all. Plus, it simplifies your
system install efforts greatly.

scott_doyland@johnlewis.co.uk wrote:
> Mag wrote:
>> Well said! :-)
>>
>> I am somewhat more confident about my TSM server than these AIX mksysbs
>> :-)
>> thats all I was going at. I though I could avoid the office politics
>> talk, but even on usenet it comes and haunts me!
>>
>>


[...] snip

>
> We use Storix http://www.storix.com and write the system backups it
> creates to TSM. Works fine and I have sued it to restore a few times.
> Only problem is that sometimes its difficult to get Storix to netboot a
> server, although this normally seems to be if you have a weird network
> setup, eg a firewall between servers you are booting from and
> installing to.
>
> So in a restore situation we sometimes have had to mess with teh
> network a bit. Nothing major though.%

Storix is essentially sysback from a company other than IBM.

Sysback is cheap, IBM supports it and you don't have to worry
about a finger-pointing issue.