Re: Multi-threading backups

[Wayne McAlpine <wayne.mcalpine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim,

I'm running a multi-threaded application for nightly backups of key 
libraries to save files, which are then ftp'ed to an off-site iSeries 
server.  The save files are in a separate asp so there is minimum disk 
contention and they are cleared once the ftp transfer completes.

You could do something similar and then save the save files to tape 
using SAVSAVFDTA.  The application consists of three CL programs: a 
controlling program, a program to build the save files, and a program to 
handle the ftp operation.  They communicate with data queues.  The 
programs are pretty short and straightforward.  If you're interested, 
I'll send the source to you off-list.

Wayne

Jim Damato wrote:
> I'm trying to speed up my backups.  We perform nightly SAVLIBs.  I've
> customized the SAVLIB *NONSYS portion of the GO SAVE option 21 for weekend
> saves.  We're using four fiber-attached 3590E tape drives.  To speed the
> processes I run four concurrent SAVLIB jobs to keep all four fast tape
> drives busy.  Ultimately the run time boils down to the job length for a
> SAVLIB of the largest library (around 650 GB in a mix of huge single-member
> tables and high-volume multi-member files) to a 3590.  
>
> I'm sure I could shave a few hours off the process if I were able to easily
> stream the largest libraries to two or more tape drives concurrently.
>
> I've read about media definitions for assigning several tape devices to one
> logical device.  It didn't seem very easy to set up, and I was worried about
> my ability to recover these types of saves to DR systems with different
> 3590E configurations.
>
> Is anyone doing anything like this?  I've never looked at layered backup
> products.  Does BRMS facilitate such a solution?
>
> -Jim
>
> James P. Damato
> Manager - Systems Administration
> Dollar General Corporation
> <mailto:jdamato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>