The basic problem that people are trying to address here is something that in
my estimation goes against the major design features of ADSM.  That is - it
isn't designed to do weekly and monthly full backups - If it was - there would
be a "Full backup" option available from the backup options.

When I see one of these threads start up, I believe there is a person
somewhere - probably a manager, but I've been reading Dilbert again, that
thinks that the only "safe" way to have a backup is to do full weekly, monthly
, or yearly backups.  The beauty of ADSM is that the developers and designers
took the time to think "out of the box" and ask "Why?"

In my mind, the combination of an adequately defined management class that
meets the customer's needs, coupled with a backup copypool, covers backup
requirements.   Weekly and monthly backups of the same files just duplicates
the same data over and over again - probably costing more in terms of time,
tapes, and management, not to mention machine and network utilization.  And in
my company, the critical resource is more and more the network - and anyone
who thinks that it isn't being used in the middle of the night hasn't looked
at it many years.

There are only two arguments that I have heard for periodic backups that have
(some) merit.  The first of these are legal requirements to keep a point in
time backup.  Never pays to argue with a lawyer (I know - I have a son in Law
School).  This is where Archive comes into play.  The second is the issue of
the number of tapes that a client is spread across.  This argument has some
real concern, although it can be mitigated by using collocation.  To a certain
extent here, this is a case of "pay me now, or pay me later".  IN this case, I
am willing to take the extra time later, traded off against having a good copy
off site that is managed for me.  I know not all will feel this way.

As someone said on this list a while back - ADSM is not your Father's backup
tool.   I get concerned when people start trying to make it into one.  I will
now get off of my soapbox, with the parting quote from StarTrek V - "Let go of
your pain".

So let me have it - I can take it!  :-)

Jerry Lawson
jlawson AT thehartford DOT com