Backups

I received a query from one of our customers regarding backups. Can anyone help me with information here - my Informix experience isn't the best. I apologise if this is misdirected. D. >>You will recall that I implemented my own set of backups which break the >>dump file >>into 1GB stripes. This was done to get around the Unix 2GB file limit. >>Although this works >>fine on version 7.23 it seems that informix have made some internal >>modifications on version 7.31. >>I attempted a restore the other day to a new DR server and it failed meaning >>that I had to backup and >>restore from tape. >>What I therefore need to know is what has changed which prevents restores >>via a named pipe? >>Is there a special port that should be supplied to get around this problem? >>Failing that I am experimenting with setting the TAPESIZE in the onconfig >>file to 2gb. >>When it reaches this limit it prompts you for a new tape so you copy the >>first file >>to dump.1 and press return. The problem I get here is how to automatically >>send >>a carriage return when this is running so that the following file can get >>backed up? Thanks for any help that may be received. I am grateful. Darren -- __________ Darren Robertson Technical Support ORC Software __________ Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 0999 Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 0940 www.orcsoftware.com __________ This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may be legally privileged and/or confidential. If you have received this email in error please destroy it and contact the sender, via our switchboard on +44 20 7942 0950 or via return e-mail. You should not copy, forward or use the contents, attachments or information in any way. Any unauthorised use or disclosure may be unlawful. This communication is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as an official confirmation of any transaction. All prices, data and other information are not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and are subject to change without notice. Any opinion expressed in this email may be personal to the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the company or its affiliates. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.226 / Virus Database: 108 - Release Date: 05/01/2001

Darren, I'm confused at your question. If you're doing backups via ontape, you don't need to worry about the 2GB file size limit on unix. Simply specify the size of the tape and drive in your TAPESIZE parameter and ontape will do the rest. In other words, if you have a DDS3 tape drive, you can use DDS3 tapes which are 12GB native capacity so your TAPESIZE parameter would be 12000000. No need to break these out in 2GB chunks. By using ontape, it also allows you to do a complete instance restore onto a new server, provided your partitions are layed out the same. This is a very common practice for those who wish to do enterprise replication onto a secondary server. Please elaborate what your own set of backups are. Darren Robertson wrote: > I received a query from one of our customers regarding backups. Can anyone > help me with information here - my Informix experience isn't the best. I > apologise if this is misdirected. > > D. > > >>You will recall that I implemented my own set of backups which break the > >>dump file > >>into 1GB stripes. This was done to get around the Unix 2GB file limit. > >>Although this works > >>fine on version 7.23 it seems that informix have made some internal > >>modifications on version 7.31. > >>I attempted a restore the other day to a new DR server and it failed > meaning > >>that I had to backup and > >>restore from tape. > > >>What I therefore need to know is what has changed which prevents restores > >>via a named pipe? > >>Is there a special port that should be supplied to get around this > problem? > > >>Failing that I am experimenting with setting the TAPESIZE in the onconfig > >>file to 2gb. > >>When it reaches this limit it prompts you for a new tape so you copy the > >>first file > >>to dump.1 and press return. The problem I get here is how to automatically > >>send > >>a carriage return when this is running so that the following file can get > >>backed up? > > Thanks for any help that may be received. I am grateful. > > Darren > > -- > __________ > Darren Robertson > Technical Support > ORC Software > __________ > Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 0999 > Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 0940 > www.orcsoftware.com > __________ > > This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the > addressee(s) and may be legally privileged and/or confidential. If you have > received this email in error please destroy it and contact the sender, via > our switchboard on +44 20 7942 0950 or via return e-mail. You should not > copy, forward or use the contents, attachments or information in any way. > Any unauthorised use or disclosure may be unlawful. > > This communication is for informational purposes only. It is not intended > as an official confirmation of any transaction. All prices, data and other > information are not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and are > subject to change without notice. Any opinion expressed in this email may > be personal to the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of > the company or its affiliates. > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.226 / Virus Database: 108 - Release Date: 05/01/2001 -- Phillip Tien Database Administrator Whole Foods Market, Inc. "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend knows this kid who's going with this girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious."