The beauty of ADSM is you always have a "full" backup on your tapes.  You
don't actually have to do one.  However, if you really want to, you can and
the command is selective.

Doing periodic full backups with ADSM buys you nothing, actually, and only
takes more time.  With the ADSM way, you can always perform a full restore
simply using a single restore command.  ADSM keeps track of where all of
your data and will restore it in an optimal fashion.  If you are concerned
about restore times, you can create collocated tape storage pools.  This
will help to minimize the number of tape mounts required during a complex
restore.  But since most of your restores are generally of a non-complex
nature, i.e.,  single file restores, you don't need this.

Explain your environment a bit more including your ADSM server
configuration and your restore time requirements and we can probably help
you optimize your environment.

Kelly Lipp
Storage Solutions Specialists, Inc.
lipp AT storsol DOT com
www.storsol.com
(719) 531-5926