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Hi Gang, I am evaluating a software out there called FalconStor and the software company promises to provide a solution that would make backing up the informix database or any other dbms using native commands such as onbar, rman, etc unnecessary. They said that their software takes a snapshot of the disk at regular interval from 5 minutes to one hour, depending on the frequency you want to set it. Then If you want to restore to any point it time , you just have to point your dbms to that snapshot and you are current as the time that snapshot was taken. Data within instances can also be refreshed from one environment to another using the same method. I need some questions of concerns to ask this vendor. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  1- What are the pitfalls of not taking regular conventional backups but to rely on the snapshots to restore the databases to any point in time in the event of a crash?  2- What are the benefits and disadvantages of going that path if you see any. Using IDS 7.31.UD8 and IDS 10.0.UC8 on AIX 5.2 Thanks in advance for your anticipated help! jp