Hi Ted,

Since you are in Blacksburg you know who we are.  But for the other folks,
Virginia Tech is a state univeristy (The Hokies) and we do things cheap here.
I have been offered a SUN Enterprise 250 and a SUN L1000 DLT library with
10(?) slots that will soon be surplused by the other backup system (Legato)
after they upgrade to better hardware as a test TSM Solaris server.

The users will not tolerate loss of historic data so the only option is to
export/import.  I can test exporting but the Enterprise 250 doesn't have a
3590 tape drive to import to.  I like your idea of renaming one node and
importing back to the AIX server.

This is my take:

800 new 3590E tapes will have to be purchased for the purpose of export/import.
Migration has to be done in one shot since we will have to disconnect the 3494
   after the export and connect it to the new Solaris server for the import.
During migration all backup/restore have to be stopped since new data
   to the server will be lost after the export.
Down time will be extensive.
My recommendation is to set up a new Solaris server and slowly put new clients
   on it.  Then over time we will move all clients to the new server.  But I
   know it won't fly because it will entail buying a new tape library.

Eliza Lau
Virginia Tech

>
> Hi Eliza,
>
> My condolences; I don't envy the position that you're in.  I'm not sure
> what arguments have been laid out against staying with AIX, but perhaps you
> could put some weight on the other pan of the scale by doing some testing
> and extrapolating the results to approximate the real costs of migrating to
> a new platform.
>
> It's probably a pretty safe bet that your users at Tech are not willing to
> abandon their historical backup data, so you are probably faced with doing
> an export/import of data to get that across to whatever new platform you
> will go to.  Depending o how great a hurry management is to get AIX and/or
> IBM server hardware out the door, side-by-side co-existence might be an
> option. Not a very attractive one in my mind, but a possibility.)
>
> Is there a medium-size representative client node that you could perform a
> test of the export/import process with?  It should be one that has been
> active for a while, so that the data is spread across volumes, rather than
> being on one or a couple of tapes. This is assuming that you are not using
> collocation.  If you are, "data spread" should be much less of an
> issue.  If you don't have a test TSM server that can access the 3590
> drives, it would be a good idea to temporarily rename the node for the
> duration of the export so that you can import it to the same server.
>
> Some factors that you might want to keep in mind as you approach this with
> an eye toward presenting the cost(s) of migration:
>
>          Export will not automatically free tapes
>                  on the source server; you'll need
>                  enough tapes (and slots) available to create
>                  the export and to import to the new server.
>          How much "slack" time do you have on your six drives?
>                  Will you be able to perform these migrations
>                  and still perform the work required to keep
>                  the other backups running on the "old" AIX system?
>          Even doing these migrations one at a time, will the
>                  downtime for any particular system be prohibitive?
>                  Can your users/applications tolerate that kind of downtime
> without
>                  good backups?
>
> I don't have any hands-on with TSM on either Linux or Solaris, so I can't
> speak to the pros or cons of either, but perhaps the costs of the migration
> scenario will be persuasive enough to at least slow, if not entirely stop
> the pressures to migrate.
>
> Let us know how you make out with this "adventure".
>
> Ted
>
> Ted Byrne
> Blacksburg, VA
>
>
> At 10:53 AM 4/20/2004, you wrote:
> >TSMers,
> >
> >Please help me NOT migrate the server to a different platform from AIX.
> >
> >server:
> >4way P660, 3G memory running AIX 5.1
> >3494 with 6 FC 3590E tape drives connected to 2 SAN switches
> >90G database at 60% utilized on a Shark
> >24T of backup data
> >2600 3590E tapes
> >460 clients: Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX
> >
> >There has been a change in management, and to put it mildly, certain people
> >do not like IXX and want to see it out of the machine room.
> >I have to put in a strong argument on why TSM has to run on AIX.  The two
> >platforms I am offered are Linux and Solaris.  Management wants to keep the
> >3494 and all its tapes because of the sunk cost.
> >
> >I have been running ADSM/TSM/ITSM v2/v3/v4/v5 for the past 8 years on a
> >J30 and then the P660 and am perfectly happy with TSM on AIX.  The two IBM
> >CEs who work on our hardware are wonderful.  Migrating to a different
> >platform is going to be a nightmare.  How long will backup be
> >down to export/import 460 clients with 24T of data?
> >
> >Realistically, I know I can only stall it for 2 more years.  After we
> >outgrow the P660, the new hardware we buy will run either Solaris or Linux.
> >What is your experience with TSM server running on either one?
> >
> >Thanks in advance,
> >Eliza Lau
> >Virginia Tech Computing Center
> >Blacksburg, VA
>