OnBar/OnTape

Hi, I have a question regarding onbar/ontape related to the transaction log backup. When the log file is full, onbar/ontape will back it up automatically to the tape (or any media). Is it possible to back it up to a file (disk) instead of to a tape directly? Any input is appreciated. Please send reply via email to me, I don't have access to the web currently. Thank you. Regards, Welling Hsu Philips Semiconductors, Sunnyvale Phone: (408) 991-5227 Email: welling.hsu@philips.com

welling.hsu@philips.com wrote: > > Hi, > > I have a question regarding onbar/ontape related to the transaction log backup. > When the log file is full, onbar/ontape will back it up automatically to the tape (or > any media). Is it possible to back it up to a file (disk) instead of to a tape directly? > > Any input is appreciated. Please send reply via email to me, I don't have access > to the web currently. Thank you. > > Regards, > Welling Hsu > Philips Semiconductors, Sunnyvale > Phone: (408) 991-5227 > Email: welling.hsu@philips.com You should be able to put in a device name and have the output sent there. -- Joseph Kormann Joseph.Kormann@lmco.com Ph:732/450-7126 Fx:732/450-7153 "Heaven is a half-pipe!" - OPM

Onbar and Ontape are two different animals when it comes to logical logs. Remember that onbar is Storage manager based and the recover file it creates (ixbar.x) assumes that all the recovery media is in one location - the storage manager. With ontape, you could "mix and match" and get away with it because you are controlling the recovery process.

To expand on Fred's reply vis-a-vis OnBar.. OnBar does see all the backups as being in "one place". It is the responsibility of the storage manager software (ISM, Legato Networker, Veritas NetBackup, Tivoli Storage Manager, etc.) to place the data on the media and keep track of its location. Some managers, like Tivoli Storage Manager, make it very easy to store the log backups on disk and even provide facilities to automatically move them to tape when the disk gets close to full. The others that I have looked at also allow you to store backups on disk but don't automate the migration to tape. All the managers I've examined divide the backup media into "storage pools" (whatever terminology they like) and allow the Informix backup process to designate which pool to use for each type of backup. Some even allow you to send dbspaces and/or different backup levels to different pools, if you really want to slice-and-dice. OnBar's primary advantages, as far as I can tell: 1) parallel backups -- backing up 2 or more dbspaces concurrently, reducing backup time. 2) handling of high-end devices, like autochangers and libraries. 3) "automatic" restores -- one command restores the latest level-0, the latest level-1 and/or level-2 if needed and any logs needed -- reduces operator error. 4) "continuous" log backup does not require a continuous process or a constantly open device. Ontape's primary advantages are: 1) ease of setup and use. 2) less work to restore to a separate machine. From what I've seen, ontape is suitable for databases up to 100G or so (depending upon how many tapes drives you want to buy or how much operator work you want). OnBar is probably the backup of choice once you get much larger, both for operational and administrative reasons. HTH, Doug "Fred Prose" <fprose@supreme.sp.state.az.us> wrote in message news:8p96hm$cm2@netnews.state.az.us... > Onbar and Ontape are two different animals when it comes to logical logs. > Remember that onbar is Storage manager based and the recover file it creates > (ixbar.x) assumes that all the recovery media is in one location - the > storage manager. > > With ontape, you could "mix and match" and get away with it because you are > controlling the recovery process. > > >