ADSM-L

Re: User verification of backups?

2001-06-10 11:02:30
Subject: Re: User verification of backups?
From: Lindsay Morris <lmorris AT SERVERGRAPH DOT COM>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 11:03:01 -0400
And another thing - even without publising dsmsched.log files on a web site,
each client's user can say "dsmc query backup ..." and see if file x has
been backed up, and when; or see all files that have been backedup; or see
how many versions have been backed up, etc.

And Richard is right.  But management is expressing a need to be sure
"things are working" - not an unreasonable request.  Maybe you can go back
to them with some reasonable methodolgy for giving them that sense of
assurance - periodic restore tests, periodic "q backup *" compared with
current file lists, etc. - and maybe that would start the conversations that
need to happen - requirements.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU]On Behalf Of
> Richard Sims
> Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 7:17 AM
> To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> Subject: Re: User verification of backups?
>
>
> >Our (storage team) new number one priority is: "Verify that all the
> >correct data from each server is being backed up every time. Schedule
> >meetings with every server owner to get their sign off. Please give some
> >thought to how we allow these users to verify their data."
>
> Steve - That's obviously a mighty poor definition, which will as
>         obviously lead to the standard chase of the wild goose that
> is so common in inadequately managed commercial environments.
> Their mission statement begs the question as to the original objectives
> which should have been clearly defined before the organization embarked
> upon data assurance backups, with commensurate objectives for restorals
> and retention.  All this should fold into a standing document which
> describes those objectives and the rationale for selecting the current
> storage management solution (TSM) to meet them.
>
> "All the correct data" is utterly vague.  The organization must have a
> definition of what data is important to the business and thus worth
> the cost of backup, along with a prioritization of importance of the
> various types of data.  Without a definition that is top-down from
> management you're going to end up with a pointless situation where
> it will be up to the various server system administrators to come up
> with some arbitrary list from their own perspective, which won't
> necessarily mean much.
>
> Once the definitions are in place, it's simply a matter of those
> server admins having that data backed up.  TSM produces a log on the
> client of data that is sent to the server, and those clients can
> clearly perform Query Backup reports to verify that the data is at
> the TSM server.  I don't see that the TSM administrator has to play
> any substantial role in this make-work project.
>
>   Richard Sims, BU
>
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