> Have one user who wants a full backup once a month (and he's got the
> clout to get 'em). How is that done, please.  (OS is Win95)
>
> TIA
>
> Orin Rehorst
> MIS Project Manager
> Port of Houston Authority

I am afraid this is another case where clout is being utilized as an
alternative to understanding. ADSM steadfastly refuses to back up a file
that its database says it already has an exact copy of.

It will take some use of political skills to convince this user that this
is unnecessary with ADSM, and is a waste of both his and your time and
resources. Full backups are just not "the ADSM way".

Attempt to discern his motives for wanting this. Is he afraid of trusting
his data to "the system"? That's just not a problem with a properly run
ADSM server. ALL is data will ALWAYS be restorable; this is one of ADSM's
strongest points compared to the alternatives. If the problem is the
length of time it might take to do a restore, then enroll him such that
COLOCATION is in effect. (You do not need to do this for all users - just
make a special set of storage pools for him and any others you want to
have COLOCATION for. You might call them VIP and VIP_TAPE.) COLOCATION
might be the best compromise - then all his data will be on only 1 (or
however many it takes) tape, and you can take him into the computer room
and show him "his tape", and tell him that this tape contains only his
data, nobody else's. Give him the Volume ID of "his tape", and explain
that even if the ADSM database is completely lost, his data could still
be restored from that tape. Since that one volume contains all the
incremental backups that have ever been done from his PC, it can be
considered a "full backup".

Another sound idea which might make this user feel a lot better: If you
don't do this already, do a periodic (much more often than monthly!)
BACKUP STGPOOL, and take the backup copy offsite, someplace far away from
the Houston Ship Channel and its big ships that sometimes run into things
and blow up. (I grew up in Houston, and I still remember my school field
trip aboard the M/V Sam Houston, so I know about this firsthand.)

In fact, a periodic full backup could have a distinct DISADVANTAGE in
ADSM. If he accidentally deletes a file just before the monthly full
backup, but does not discover the deletion until afterwards, it might not
be available to be restored. However, using ADSM "as it was intended",
such files are always available, subject to the retention period you have
specified.

If you still have to do it, one way to trigger a full backup is to delete
his filespace immediately before a scheduled backup of his node. Keep the
time window here as short as possible.

Roger Deschner      University of Illinois at Chicago     rogerd AT uic DOT edu
Aliases:                  u52983 AT uicvm.uic DOT edu        R.Deschner AT uic 
DOT edu
======I have not lost my mind -- it is backed up on tape somewhere.=====