Hi All

I think it may be time for a collective report on TSM 5.4 client and
server  - I'm starting to find some things that I don't like about it,
and I think the quality control has gone backwards a little with this
release.

My situation is that I work for a small firm handling multiple clients
in the TSM/AIX/IBM storage space.  We don't sell anything, just do
services.  Most of the clients run TSM on Windows, and of course no
matter what the server OS the clients are mostly windows.

I've upgraded two clients personally to 5.4 client and server and a
colleague has done one.

Issues.

1.  hanging client sessions -  I have some clients that appear to backup
correctly but then the session stays open indefinitely, even past the
next backup.

2. DFS mount problems.  Apparently the code that gets windows file
attributes has changed in 5.4 client.  This causes issues when  a
windows DFS root is backed up - the underlying directories are reported
as inaccessible. There is a testflag hack to revert to the old code
which gets around the issue, once you know about it.

3.  SNAPSHOTLOCATION size issues - windows clients that have backed up
successfully on previous versions are now reporting ANS9999E
ntrc.cpp(928) followed by ANS1378E indicating snapshotlocation is too
small.  As this happens with systemstate and system services backup, it
looks like VSS problems again.

While we are on the subject of  TSM and Windows VSS, this has been a
thorn in my side for some time.  I even have one client machine (5.3.4
client, 5.3.2 server) which is a *new* Windows2003 SP1 build and the
machine hangs hard on *every* systemstate backup. This is the worst case
but far from the only one where VSS refuses to play ball with TSM.  Can
not IBM use some if its marketing musclewith MS to  get the TSM guys and
VSS guys into a room together and keep them there till we have a
solution that works reliably or at least a diagnosis and repair tool
that can correct whatever ails VSS in these situations?

My recommendation?  at the moment 5.4 Server is stable enough for
production use.  I would give the client until 5.4.1 to get its act
together. Use 5.3.4 client instead.

My 2 cents - ok a buck fifty this time

Steve

Steven Harris
AIX an TSM Admin
Brisbane Australia

Moving to Sydney soon - any job offers gratefully considered.