dump/vxdump problems

[Paul Murray_1]

Hello All,

Further to an earlier post (http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xa1d05a3e6e0bd6118ff40090279cd0f9,00.html), I am trying to build a case to highlight problems with using dump/vxdump as a backup tool.

Has anyone had any problems, or had any compatibility / supportability issues relating to these tools ?

Many thanks in advance,
Paul.

[Paula J Frazer-Campbell · Accepted solution]

Paul

The weakest part of dump is that it is only for HFS and has a 2 gig limit.

HTH

Paula

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Hi Paul:

Unless you have OnlineJFS then vxdump should be done on an unmounted filesystem; if you have OnlineJFS then you should make a snapshot mount and run vxdump on that. However, the biggest drawback is that you have to accept the status that vxdump returns as a truthful indication that the backup was successfull and that the data got written to tape unless you are willing to restore to an alternate location to verify each backup.

If cost is a problem and this is strictly an HP backup/restore, then fbackup is probably the least evil answer since it will do incrementals like vxdump and will allow you to verify the backup.