database backup using commvault simpana

Posted in 2010

Savio Pinto (s) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:01:49 — source: IIUG Forums & Mailing Lists

Hi, Is anyone in the mailing list using Commvault Simpana's backup solution to backup their informix databases ?. are there any issues with this product's backup/restore procedures and is it a reliable tool ? any inputs will be appreciated Thanks Savio Pinto

↪ replying to Savio Pinto (s)

Art Kagel — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:22:11 — source: IIUG Forums & Mailing Lists

It looks like Simpana is a disk based archive/backup process, it does not say that it supports the iBCS protocol needed to integrate with Informix's onbar. That means that you can only use it to perform an "external backup" which means putting the engine into a blocked state (onmode -c block) where no new transactions can begin and existing transactions must wait for the engine to be released back to an operational mode (onmode -c unblock) before they can enter a critical section of code. This is only really feasible when using hardware snapshots and taking the archive from the snapshot. It is not practical to do this by archiving the actual server chunks. If you take an archive with Sampana (or any other product that just copies disk files) without putting the engine into blocked mode, the copy will not be consistent internally and you will not be able to recover your database after a crash. Art Art S. Kagel Advanced DataTools (www.advancedatatools.com) IIUG Board of Directors (art@iiug.org) Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that my own opinions are my own opinions and do not reflect on my employer, Advanced DataTools, the IIUG, nor any other organization with which I am associated either explicitly, implicitly, or by inference. Neither do those opinions reflect those of other individuals affiliated with any entity with which I am affiliated nor those of the entities themselves. On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:01 AM, Savio Pinto (s) <spinto@cap.org> wrote: > Hi, > > Is anyone in the mailing list using Commvault Simpana's backup solution > to backup their informix databases ?. are there any issues with this > product's backup/restore procedures and is it a reliable tool ? > > any inputs will be appreciated > > Thanks > > Savio Pinto > > > > ******************************************************************************* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > --0016e65b5e347779f3048da2c469

↪ replying to Art Kagel

Savio Pinto (s) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:38:55 — source: IIUG Forums & Mailing Lists

Thanks Art ! Commvault Simpana claims that it can integrate with onbar, here are the urls http://www.commvault.com/pdf/DS_GBR_Informix.pdf http://documentation.commvault.com/dell/release_7_0_0/books_online_1/eng lish_us/features/instances/informix.htm -----Original Message----- From: ids-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:ids-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of Art Kagel Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 11:22 AM To: ids@iiug.org Subject: Re: database backup using commvault simpana [20889] It looks like Simpana is a disk based archive/backup process, it does not say that it supports the iBCS protocol needed to integrate with Informix's onbar. That means that you can only use it to perform an "external backup" which means putting the engine into a blocked state (onmode -c block) where no new transactions can begin and existing transactions must wait for the engine to be released back to an operational mode (onmode -c unblock) before they can enter a critical section of code. This is only really feasible when using hardware snapshots and taking the archive from the snapshot. It is not practical to do this by archiving the actual server chunks. If you take an archive with Sampana (or any other product that just copies disk files) without putting the engine into blocked mode, the copy will not be consistent internally and you will not be able to recover your database after a crash. Art Art S. Kagel Advanced DataTools (www.advancedatatools.com) IIUG Board of Directors (art@iiug.org) Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that my own opinions are my own opinions and do not reflect on my employer, Advanced DataTools, the IIUG, nor any other organization with which I am associated either explicitly, implicitly, or by inference. Neither do those opinions reflect those of other individuals affiliated with any entity with which I am affiliated nor those of the entities themselves. On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:01 AM, Savio Pinto (s) <spinto@cap.org> wrote: > Hi, > > Is anyone in the mailing list using Commvault Simpana's backup solution > to backup their informix databases ?. are there any issues with this > product's backup/restore procedures and is it a reliable tool ? > > any inputs will be appreciated > > Thanks > > Savio Pinto > > > > ************************************************************************ ******* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > --0016e65b5e347779f3048da2c469 ************************************************************************ ******* Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.

↪ replying to Savio Pinto (s)

Art Kagel — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:06:57 — source: IIUG Forums & Mailing Lists

Thanks, I didn't find that reference when I looked. Good to know! Art Art S. Kagel Advanced DataTools (www.advancedatatools.com) IIUG Board of Directors (art@iiug.org) Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that my own opinions are my own opinions and do not reflect on my employer, Advanced DataTools, the IIUG, nor any other organization with which I am associated either explicitly, implicitly, or by inference. Neither do those opinions reflect those of other individuals affiliated with any entity with which I am affiliated nor those of the entities themselves. On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 1:38 PM, Savio Pinto (s) <spinto@cap.org> wrote: > Thanks Art ! > > Commvault Simpana claims that it can integrate with onbar, here are the > urls > > http://www.commvault.com/pdf/DS_GBR_Informix.pdf > > http://documentation.commvault.com/dell/release_7_0_0/books_online_1/eng > lish_us/features/instances/informix.htm > > -----Original Message----- > From: ids-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:ids-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of > Art Kagel > Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 11:22 AM > To: ids@iiug.org > Subject: Re: database backup using commvault simpana [20889] > > It looks like Simpana is a disk based archive/backup process, it does > not > say that it supports the iBCS protocol needed to integrate with > Informix's > onbar. That means that you can only use it to perform an "external > backup" > which means putting the engine into a blocked state (onmode -c block) > where > no new transactions can begin and existing transactions must wait for > the > engine to be released back to an operational mode (onmode -c unblock) > before > they can enter a critical section of code. This is only really feasible > when using hardware snapshots and taking the archive from the snapshot. > It > is not practical to do this by archiving the actual server chunks. If > you > take an archive with Sampana (or any other product that just copies disk > > files) without putting the engine into blocked mode, the copy will not > be > consistent internally and you will not be able to recover your database > after a crash. > > Art > > Art S. Kagel > Advanced DataTools (www.advancedatatools.com) > IIUG Board of Directors (art@iiug.org) > > Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that my own opinions are my own opinions > and > do not reflect on my employer, Advanced DataTools, the IIUG, nor any > other > organization with which I am associated either explicitly, implicitly, > or by > inference. Neither do those opinions reflect those of other individuals > affiliated with any entity with which I am affiliated nor those of the > entities themselves. > > On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:01 AM, Savio Pinto (s) <spinto@cap.org> > wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > Is anyone in the mailing list using Commvault Simpana's backup > solution > > to backup their informix databases ?. are there any issues with this > > product's backup/restore procedures and is it a reliable tool ? > > > > any inputs will be appreciated > > > > Thanks > > > > Savio Pinto > > > > > > > > > ************************************************************************ > ******* > > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > > > > > --0016e65b5e347779f3048da2c469 > > ************************************************************************ > ******* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > > > ******************************************************************************* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > --0016e6d274b845bd7f048da43bd4