Re: Where do I learn about SAN backup?

Flash copy is the simplest because it lets you keep using the original copy while you back up the copy. I believe in 7.2 there is capability to copy disks and find them and then vary on even if the disks were just moved from another machine but that's not what you are after.

There have been Switchable ASPs for some time and for a while that depended on particular hardware in the machine that no longer exists. (HSL loops etc) Again here though it was one partition OR another could use it not both.

- Larry "DrFranken" Bolhuis

www.Frankeni.com
www.iDevCloud.com - Personal Development IBM i timeshare service.
www.iInTheCloud.com - Commercial IBM i Cloud Hosting.

On 8/24/2017 4:27 PM, Joe Pluta wrote:

Is the ability to vary on the iASP on a second partition something to do with FlashCopy or have you been able to vary an iASP off on one partition and onto another for some time? Like on 7.1, perhaps?

Your data needs to be in an iASP if you're going to flashcopy just that. Then yes that iASP would be varied on on the other partition and backed up there. As Rob mentioned you can even have BRMS 'make believe' that the back up happened locally by sharing the backup metadata back to the original partition.

- Larry "DrFranken" Bolhuis

www.Frankeni.com
www.iDevCloud.com - Personal Development IBM i timeshare service.
www.iInTheCloud.com - Commercial IBM i Cloud Hosting.

On 8/24/2017 3:39 PM, Joe Pluta wrote:

Perfect. My vendor had some difficulty explaining it.

So basically, you snapshot, then dump it to a different iASP and use that. Very cool. And I can do that from one partition to another?

YaMan!

Snapshopt is called "Flash Copy" because it copies in a "FLASH!" Terrabytes of data all copied in zero time. OK it lies but since it looks like it copied there you go, it did!

You then need something to use that copy with. Something such as PowerHA allows you to flash-copy an iASP with your data then vary it on on a second partition and back it up there.

Alternatively I ahve set up a flashcopy of the entire system, then IPL that as a second partition. Then back that up.

There are a ton of considerations but that's the 100,000 flyover.

- Larry "DrFranken" Bolhuis

www.Frankeni.com
www.iDevCloud.com - Personal Development IBM i timeshare service.
www.iInTheCloud.com - Commercial IBM i Cloud Hosting.

On 8/24/2017 3:18 PM, Joe Pluta wrote:

I'm hearing that SAN storage allows us to do a very fast "snapshot" of the system and then backup from that snapshot. It's supposed to make the backup less intrusive. Is anyone doing something like this?

Thanks in advance!