Backup online files !!

[Chris Fung]

Hi all,

I just encountered a problem on backing up the online files....which means we have files that will be updated in 24x7 manner....However, it is just an ordinary filesystem but not database like Oracle which has redo log and archive log etc.

Just wondering if there is any good method to do it !! Besides, if we use "tar", tar command will report error for non-consistent block size of files being back up.

Much appreciated for your input

Happy New Year,

Chris,

[Rajeev Shukla]

Fbackup or cpio are best to backup the online files.
Or the best means is to use some backup utilities like omniback(from HP) netback(from veritas)

Rajeev

[Michael Tully]

'tar' is extremely old in it's usage and course functionality. Suggest you use 'fbackup' (which HP has written for it's own OS) or you look into purchasing a 3rd party proprietary backup system, OmniBack, Veritas etc.

[Ravi_8]

Hi,

"Tivoli storage manager" (TSM) a IBM product would help u in this case

[T G Manikandan]

Chris,

There have been products with lot of agents for open file backup.

I do not go that way for the backup of critical databases like Oracle,SQL or whatever application that is.
The best way to go the application way as how they recommend for backup.

If it is Oracle then you have two ways of doing this

1.Take the backup of Oracle database using the hot backup method.
Hot backup is one of the ways of backup where you place the datafiles and tablespaces of the databases in the backup mode and perform backup using the normal OS commands like cp,tar,etc.

2.The second method is to use RMAN(Recovery Manager) from Oracle which is a wonderful tool from Oracle.
Using this tool there are lot of adv. like
1.There is no need to place the database in the backup mode while database is in operation.RMAN takes care of the database automatically and the backup can be performed.
2.Full and incremental backups are possible.

Infact you have lot of easier ways of backup and restore.

check RMAN from Oracle.
That is the best preferred way.

REvert

[harry d brown jr]

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x022718276953d61190040090279cd0f9,00.html

live free or die
harry

[Anthony deRito]

I am fond of Legato Networker... its expensive but works like a champ....

http://www.legato.com/products/networker/

Many others out there... great way is to load a trial version and play with it.

[Steven E. Protter]

tar, pax and cpio can't do files bigger than 2G

fbackup can.

So can Veritas, and others.

Take that into account.

Nobody can get a bullet proof oracle backup hot, though I have successfully recovered from hot backups on many occaisions.

Steve

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Chris,

If you have OnlineJFS, you can create snapshot file systems that are meant for backing up oracle database.

Look at the following document

http://docs.hp.com/hpux/onlinedocs/B3929-90011/B3929-90011.html

under onlinebackup section.

-Sri

[Jeff Schussele]

Hi Chris,

Another way to do it w/o using specialized Backup SW is to utilize mirrors & split 1 off to use as the backup source for fbackup or whatever you desire. This way the data is static & you'll get no errors during the backup.
Then when backup is complete merge it back into the LV & resync it.
The safest way to do this is with a 3-way mirror. This way when one is split off, you'll still have the 2nd mirror for redundancy.

Rgds,
Jeff

[Martin Johnson]

Word of caution: Make sure your bufffers are flushed. IF part of your data is in buffers in memory, your data can be corrupted.

Do a recovery of your backups to verify the integrity of the backups.

HTH
Marty

[Bill Hassell]

You might want to look at HiComp's HiBack (http://www.hicomp.com)s an alternative to Veritas, Legato and others.

However, no matter what program you use, if the data is changing while the backup is running, the resultant backup may contain an unstable version of the data. This is a critical question about the nature of the files which are changing. If you restore the file from your backup, it may contain partial records or missing records. Thus, the question is: what happens when the file is streamed to the tape and records on disk are changed at the same time? That is a question for the designer of the application programs.

[Chris Vail]

A really, REALLY pricey solution is to call your friendly neighborhood EMC representative and look at their products. They offer BCV (Business Continuance Volumes) copies of the data.
Basically, this allows you to build a third drive, or sets of drives to mirror drives that are already mirrored. Once the 3rd mirror is synchronized, that mirror can be broken, and the disk(s) logically attached to another host. Once on the other host, you can make a tape backup of the original data, or just run another copy of your application against it. Restoring it is a cinch: just attach the mirror back to the original host, then synchronize the other copies. This takes a few seconds, and is a true "point in time" restore. As I said, its pricey, but if you CANNOT afford to lose data, its invaluable. This means, of course, that you have to purchase 3 times the amount of diskspace you actually use. However, EMC is hurting for business these days, and they're cutting prices significantly.
At least give 'em a call. Their T-Shirts are pretty good.

Chris

[Bill Hassell]

And an alternative to BCV's from SAN vendors is plain old LVM mirroring which can provide basically the same solution (triple mirroring). While the split occurs almost instantly, it still does not address the issues surrounding data coupling. Data coupling refers to data that refers to other data in the same or other files which must be updated in multiple steps. Backing up such files requires some sort of coordination with the application programs.