RE: Copy a Save Tape?

Deb,

Interesting.  I'm assuming you have only one full system save from your post 
and your concerns are having the tapes lost or damaged.  I hope you're doing 
full backups on a regular basis and send them offsite.  Why not, if you're 
doing a full save weekly or monthly, use an older set of SAVSYS tapes.  

Why not send all your recovery tapes to the DR site with exception of the ones 
needed for daily operations within your comfort zone.  You never know when 
you're going to have a bad tape in a recovery and have to use an older SAVSYS.  
A DR test is more than having one set of recovery tapes in the server room.  
It's having multiple sets vaulted offsite, IMHO. Testing and documenting how 
your tapes are shipped is a very import part of how you're going to recover in 
a disaster.  If you can't trust them in a test situation, how are you going to 
trust them being shipped in a real disaster.

I suggest you test like it was a real disaster when possible.  Have your 
Director declare a date and time a test disaster happened.  Send only tapes 
vaulted offsite to the DR site and see if you can recover with just those tapes 
to that date and time.  Find your weaknesses in your recovery.  Document them.  
Make necessary changes and test again.  Pactice like it's real.  Once you've 
documented several test and have others in your company restore the system at 
the DR site.  You never know who will be available to recover the system in a 
disaster.

Ken H.


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of DebbieKelemen
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:44 AM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: Copy a Save Tape?


Ok, I will go research how to do this.  I'm currently at 48% usage on my
DASD. So hopefully I can do this.

The reason I want to do this is we are going to do a DR test at our offsite
recovery facility.  When we do it, we will be sending our backup tapes.  My
Director of IT doesn't trust sending our original tapes via UPS to the
facility.  So he wants me to make copies of them.

With our network servers they just do some sort of image copy of their tapes
but that's how they have their backups set up.

I'm just concerned since this is our busy season as to what kind of
resources this is going to take on our system.  But I'll go do some homework
& find out.

Thanks!

Deb


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of rob@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 7:31 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Copy a Save Tape?

V5R4 allows you to dup to virtual tape.

Rob Berendt