We are new to z/Linux here, so I could be wrong in what I'm about to say. Please correct me if I am.
We run z/OS in one LPAR and z/VM, with several Linux guests, in another. I don't think that the presences of z/VM makes a difference with respect to backups. We were told by the consultant who helped us install z/VM and SUSE Linux, that Linux makes extensive use of memory caching in handling its file systems. For this reason, he claimed, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a valid backup from MVS, or any other system, while the Linux machine is running. The backup will run just fine, but upon restoring the DASD, the file system WILL be corrupted. Not MAY be corrupted. WILL be. For that reason, I have setup a virtual machine, with the necessary privilege, that shuts down all the Linux guests at 1:00 am. A backup job is submitted on z/OS at 1:30, and the virtual machine I created restarts the Linux guests at 6:00 am. Our schedule permits this. I realize that others' may not. We are looking into other, more robust and sophisticated backup strategies. Paul Noble, Systems Programmer Cuyahoga County Information Service Center >>> "Jones, Russell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 6/28/2007 3:18 PM >>> We are running z/Linux in an LPAR. It is a 1 volume system. We are currently using an MVS batch job to back up the volume while Linux is running. I know that this is not a good idea, and I would like to know how other shops handle backup and restore of their z/Linux systems. So far, our method has worked fine. At our disaster recovery exercises, we simply restore the volume with DFDSS and away we go. We would like the process to be as automated as possible. We could train the operators to shutdown Linux, run the backup, and then bring it back up, but we would like to avoid that if possible. We would also like to avoid bringing a tape drive online to Linux. We don't have the resources to dedicate a drive to Linux fulltime, and switching a drive between MVS and Linux during the batch cycle would difficult. I appreciate any suggestions. Russ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
