I've been admin TSM since the V3 days if memory serves, and sometimes it 
doesn't so much anymore.  I've had a lot less problems with TSM since the move 
to DB2. We are now at 7.1.1.  I do not know DB2 and have not had a need to 
learn it.  We back up about 400 servers, 350 VMs, 100 databases, and an 
Exchange systems which is just big.  FWIW, we do not do software (TSM) dedup.

David

-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of 
Stef Coene
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 3:39 PM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: [ADSM-L] TSM rant

Hi,

I don't get it.

Back in the good oldays of TSM 5, you could have a normal server (basic CPU, 8
GB RAM, normal disks) and run TSM without any problem.
The command line interface was nice, the web based GUI was basic, but you
could do everything with it.
You needed some extra scripts of software for decent monitoring, but overall,
TSM was a nice, not-to-difficult product that I enjoyed to use.
TSM 5.5.3.0: all binaries togehter = 30 MB.....

The database backup was so small that using tapes from the library for it was
overkill.  Just do a backup to disk and sync the data remote, or put it on a
small 4mm tape, or put it on a USB stick.  It was even so small that you could
sync it over the internet!


But then came DB2....  and dedup....  and all other 'nice' features...

The small server that you had needed suddenly 64 GB of memory.  And SSD's.
And at least 4 new CPU's.

And as administrator, you also need a deep dive in DB2.  One ANR9999D after an
other pops up.  Fix?  Sometimes an upgrade.  But most of the time you need a
DB2 guru to follow the instructions on the IBM website.  Wasn't there a
promise that DB2 will run onder the hood and that as a TSM administrator you
don't needed a DB2 prompt?

Do you know what happens yesterday?  After getting tired of ANR9999D messages
regarding dedup killing our offsite backup, we did a fresh install of the
latest TSM server on a linux box and restart all over.
But strange, our monitoring setup was always showing that there was no TSM
process running?  After some digging, we found this:
select * from processes: ANR2034E SELECT: No match found using this criteria.

But: "q proc" is working fine and shows all running processes.

WTF?!?!?  This is a fresh new install!

IBM, what are you doing with this great product?

TSM is way behind compared to other backup products: dedup, cloud backup,
monitoring, reporting, data sync, ...
Yes, you can do this with TSM, but will it work?  Will it blow up your
database?  Will you be able to do a restore?


We have about 40 TSM installations we maintain for customers.  Not all of them
have issues, but I can not promise that in the next few years they are not
switched over to an other backup solution.


Sorry for the rant, but TSM is loosing a fan :(

Stef