ADSM-L

Re: [ADSM-L] Fw: Database move

2007-11-08 15:32:26
Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] Fw: Database move
From: Timothy Hughes <Timothy.Hughes AT OIT.STATE.NJ DOT US>
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 15:31:53 -0500
Sorry Wanda - I didn't mean to send that reply to only you.

Wanda Prather wrote:
Another thing to consider:

Backup software is designed to be able to restore your systems to CURRENT
state.  TSM stores backup data organized by the filsystem and hostname
where it was backed up.

No way is that organization going to last for more than a few years -
you'll be changing servers, moving things like home directories to
different places, splitting your data and moving some to a new TSm server,
etc.

So even if you DO figure out a way to keep your backups for 25 years,
you'll be retired; how is anyone going to FIND that 25 year old data?

Long-term retention is NOT a problem for the backup software.  You need an
archiving application that gives you a way to organize and search the data
by some logical criteria that isn't tied to the hardware configuration of
today.

W


"ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU> wrote on 11/08/2007
12:25:56 PM:


-----Paul Zarnowski wrote: -----


Your avenue is export / import. Not pretty if you have a lot of
data.  And I'm talking about the data, not just the database.
As I believe more people will be interested in switching server
platforms as time goes by, I would really like to see IBM provide
some better migration tools for helping sites transition from one
server platform to another. TSM is a high-end solution, and needs
better tools in this area (IMHO).

I work for a hospital. We are required to retain some clinical
records for as long as 25 years (a former pediatric patient gets a
seven year window after his or her eighteenth birthday to decide
whether to sue the hospital). We are required to maintain
information on employee health for the lifetime of the employee.
We can't realistically commit to staying with our current server
platform for decades to come, and the prospect of exporting and
importing would get increasing daunting as long-lived archives
accumulated. We are currently looking at options for long-term
archiving of digital data, and the poor support for platform changes is
a
major point against using TSM.

You've got to ask if it's reasonable to expect to be able to be running
the
same system in 25 years as you are now.  Consider this - many people
aren't
using the same tape technology they were 5 years ago!  And there's more
layers after that - should you be able to provide the data, will there be
an application available to use it?  And an OS that will run the
application?  And a machine that will run the OS?

A 25 year (or lifetime - ouch!) retention requirement needs more than
"keep
the data in the backup system" as a solution.  There needs to be an
overall
plan to be able to use the data, otherwise retaining tapes for decades on
end is just an exercise in frustration.

Try to find a 5.25" disk drive, some fanfold wide-format (green-bar)
printer paper, and a ribbon for a Panasonic KX-P2124 printer.  OK, now do
it without going to eBay - is anyone comfortable with "buy it on eBay" as
part of a legal discovery process?  All of that was readily available
15-20
years ago, but today, well...

If you, as the TSM Admin, are left responsible for the ability to retrieve
data after the durations you're talking about, you need to raise the flag
now that, at best, you can control your part of it, but there are a LOT of
other ducks that need to be in that row.

Nick Cassimatis


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