RE: Backup to disk to cloud

Boy do I agree with you Doc. The thing I am really looking for is something that can back up my VMware environment, Windows Servers, and iSeries. Local Device with mirroring to cloud. For DR we have a mirrored system in another geographic area. This is only for backup, not HA or DR. We still archive to tape when necessary and we do a SavSys monthly just before applying PTFs. So is anyone using a commercial product that will do what I outlined? Looking for good experiences.

Chris Bipes
Director of Information Services
CrossCheck, Inc.


-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of DrFranken
Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2015 8:44 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Backup to disk to cloud

I can't resist mentioning cautions here.

Clearly you cannot use such a backup for a system recovery. Should you
consider a backup of this type sufficient for this that would put your
business at severe risk.

Restoring anything from this could take significant time. This may be
especially true if you are in a DR Recovery scenario with limited
internet connectivity.

Documentation on EXACTLY how to restore this would be mandatory because
with such a thing there are many steps and they are NOT the norm for IBM
i administrators. Remember that in a true disaster many CIOs and CEOs
make the assumption that their staff is also unavailable whether that's
because they are incapacitated themselves or they are off helping their
families. If this restore is handed to someone not thoroughly familiar
with the process, absolutely clear documentation is mandatory.

IMHO this is only valid as a just in case off-site backup, not a
production level or true D/R level backup.