Tape Support for Informix & Backups

Sorry in advance for the long post, but I would appreciate it if you would read all of it. Perhaps you could give me a hand. I am investigating alternative methods for backing up and restoring our large Informix database. I have investigated some of the alternatives and here is my summary. ONTAPE We are currently using this method. Simple to implement. Requires manual intervention (prompted for options and changing tapes). Can only write to tape. Restore data with ONTAPE. Level of granularity: dbspace. DBEXPORT Gives the option of exporting to tape or to disk. Exports the schema and data separately. Format of data is UNLOAD file format (pipe delimited). Exported files being sent to disk are limited to 2 GB. Locks the full database (i.e. no user activity). Exported data is in text format and can be loaded with DBIMPORT or via LOAD. Level of granularity: database by default, table if exported to disk. ONUNLOAD Exports data in binary file format, need to reload with ONLOAD. Level of granularity: dbspace ONARCHIVE Exports data in binary file format, need to reload with ONARCHIVE. Level of granularity: dbspace CONCERNS 1) Speed of backup and recovery given large data set sizes. Here is the information from 7889a.pdf "Archive and Backup Guide" The DEVICE parameter supports the following tape devices. See the machine notes file, mentioned under "On-Line Documentation" on page 15 of the Introduction, to determine whether any restrictions apply to your platform: * DAT (4-mm digital audio tape * Exabyte (8-mm Helical scan) * 9-track (half-inch reel to reel) * QIC (quarter-inch cartridge) All of these backup medias are slow and small in comparison to DLT. Currently our backups take a LONG time due to the slow transfer rate (relative to DLT) and the need to flip the tape. What is Informix's plan to support DLT? Are there other backup/restore methods that will address this need? Products do NOT need to have the Informix logo. I am looking for the answer to my problem, not necessarily an Informix product. 2) Level of granularity in backup/restore. Sometimes I want to backup/restore the whole database server, sometimes at the database level, sometimes at the dbspace level, and other times at the table level. Do you have any suggestions for best practices and/or tips and tricks you could point me to? 3) Currently our largest database is NOT running in log mode. If we were to implement SQL data replication here at First Albany what is the recommended logging method? Altering a database from non-logged to logged mode can be done in several ways (ontape being one of them). What is the implication of this action? Does it require additional disk space for data? What should the sizes of the logical/physical logs be? Is there a formula that you can point me to, to determine this? Thanks in advance for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you. William Riedy First Albany Corporation william_riedy@fac.com -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own