Cris,

As you are probably aware there are a few perl scripts out there that can do
the
automatic deletion. However I'm still a beginner with Perl and I'm not too
happy
about running someone else's unsupported perlscript against our production
servers.
The bottom line is that you are absolutely right!

I am about to make the transition from Backup Exec to the Connect Agent.
I have over 70 Exchange Servers at this site and I'm not at all looking
forward to spending
a day and a half each month going through all of these servers individually
deleting exchange objects
from the adsm database. My only comfort is hey! It's better than loosing
data on almost
a weekly basis with Backup Exec.

I'm surprised that the Connect Agent was released without any sort of
Enterprise Management built
into it. ADSM itself is an Enterprise product, why is it that the Connect
Agent is not? Even Backup
Exec (the great bain of my life) has some sort of enterprise monitoring
whereby I can instantly see from
a single viewscreen all of the Exchange Servers detailing which backups ran
on which servers on a
particular day and whether the backup was successful or not.

This isn't a complete rag on the Connect Agent - it's not a bad product.
When placed in the
correct environment it gives very good performance and certainly it's
installation and configuration
is very quick and easy. I was also impressed by the relative simplicity of
carrying out operations such
as a restore to an alternate Exchange Server.

I echo your comments regarding an ADSM forum. The Storage Symposium is
great, but I feel
that ADSM is treated by some as a sort of by-product of MVS Storage
Management.
ADSM & the Open Systems are growing more than ever and there is an ever
increasing
need to have it addressed separately. Any entrepenaurs out there take note!

Regards,

Nathan










        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Robinson, Cris [SMTP:Cris.Robinson AT LIBERTYMUTUAL DOT COM]
        Sent:   Thursday, February 11, 1999 8:02 AM
        To:     ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
        Subject:        Re: ADSM Connect Agent, brace yourself... not for
the faint of he art!

        Dear Del and others at IBM -

        Prepare yourselves.... I'm quickly losing my patience.

        I hope IBM/ADSM/Tivoli is planning a change to the Exchange Agent
beyond the
        fixtest so that we have
        the ability to automate the deletion of old backups on  30+ Exchange
servers
        daily and we can see when the last backup occurred from the server.
        Otherwise it will be time to look at an alternative solution to
backup other
        than ADSM. I never would have let the agent out the door without
such a
        feature.

        Many of us are fed up with opening a ticket or calling our account
rep and
        we just want some answers and input.
        Why is it that our internal programmers have to finish what IBM
started. For
        the price I pay for this software I expect to
        get a well thought out product. This has yet to happen with the
Exchange
        client or any other ADSM client.
        Our in house programmers are not so impressed with the API
documentation
        either.

        We are  an enterprise of 26,000 desktop devices, 200 Netware
servers, 50 NT
        servers, 30 Exchange server, 100 Unix boxes and a mainframe all of
which use
        ADSM for backup and we have not been asked once what we would like
to see
        enhanced in ADSM. This will change.

        Many of us would like real input. I myself would like to see a
yearly users
        forum, not the storage symposium, but a forum for ADSM only where
you have
        to deal with our concerns face to face.

        We want more say since we have to use the product day in and day
out. I
        don't care if your upper management puts pressure to get the product
out the
        door. I have to deal with my internal areas asking me why they can't
do the
        simplest things and they demand that I tell you to change it.

        Can you tell that I have had it? I apologize to anyone who may be
offended
        by my comments. Remember, the first step to
        recovery is admitting that you have a problem.

        P.S. This is also being sent to my ADSM rep, nothing personal Ron.

        Thanks -
        CR
        __________________________________________________
        Cris Robinson
        Sr. Technical Analyst
        Enterprise Storage Management / ADSM
        Liberty Mutual Insurance
        Portsmouth, New Hampshire
        603.431.8400.54837
        mailto:cris.robinson AT libertymutual DOT com

        Dilbert words of Wisdom:
        On the keyboard of life,
        always keep one finger on the escape key!


        > -----Original Message-----
        > From: Del Hoobler [SMTP:hoobler AT US.IBM DOT COM]
        > Sent: Thursday, February 11, 1999 7:15 AM
        > To:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
        > Subject:      Re: ADSM Connect Agent
        >
        > Nathan,
        >
        > There is no official release date set for the first Exchange
        > Agent PTF.  Even though version "1.1.0.0 A" is called
        > a FIXTEST, it is fully supported and actually contains the
        > final fixes that will be in the PTF when it becomes available.
        > So, if you have any problems with the 1.1.0.0 A version, please
        > open a problem with IBM support.
        >
        > Thanks,
        >
        > Del
        >
        >
        > ===================================================
        >
        > > I am currently operating with the ADSM Connect Agent 1.1.0.0A
Fixtest.
        > > Does anyone know when the PTF for this will be made available?
        > > Regards,
        > >
        > > Nathan
        > >
        > > Nathan King