Actually, I think it all depends... Here, the vast majority of messages are transient, used to send inquiries and answers back and forth between web servers and the backend (OS/390) databases (mostly IDMS, but also some VSAM).
So, we made a conscious decision to NOT do the full blown backup stuff. Basically, once a week, a CSQUTIL runs on OS/390 and takes a snapshot of the definitions, using MAKEDEF. These are stored in sequential datasets. When we have a disaster (Thank God, only in testing so far), we delete and redefine the LOGs and BSDSes from scratch, then reload the definitions from the MAKEDEFs. Then take it from there on an empty queue manager. All other data is recoverable using either database recovery mechanisms or, in a few cases, application logs that redrive transactions. Some applications maintain database flags that say "Hey -- the backend (or the frontend) isn't updated" and these flags are left in place until a positive confirmation is received from the other end that the update is in place, at which point the flag is changed; for these applications, if a double update were to occur, there would be no problem since the data would simply replace itself with identical data. As I said, it all depends on what your applications are doing and how they were designed. And, as I said, the vast majority of our traffic is transient. I will admit that I dread the day that an application comes along that has to use the full blown recovery scenario :-) Best regards, Rebecca Rebecca Bullock Computer Sciences Corporation Educational Testing Service Account Princeton, NJ 08541 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED][EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Robert Sloper [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 12:49 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Backup and Recovery of MQSeries for OS390 I have often wondered about the value of taking comprehensive backups of MQSeries files. Most commonly, MQSeries is used as a transient data store and as such does not contain much 'data at rest'. If a backup is taken of all the components, i.e. pagesets, logs and bootstraps, every Sunday at 1pm, what value will this backup be at 1am on a Monday if in the interim many of the messages that would be returned to the queues on a recovery have already been processed and the data is now 'at rest' in say a DB2 database and will potentially be processed again after a restore. To achieve a comprehensive 'backup' you would have to not only snapshot the MQ components, but also ALL other sub-system datasets that could be affected if any one of the sub-systems have a problem. This would include potentially, MQ and at least the mainframe database, if not also databases on the other locations where the message data was generated in the first place. What would be needed is 'simultaneous, synchronous recovery' of all components which would be very difficult to achieve. Curt Dolny To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <curtdolny@NORTHWESTER cc: NMUTUAL.COM> Subject: Re: Backup and Recovery of MQSeries for OS390 Sent by: MQSeries List <[EMAIL PROTECTED] AT> 06/05/02 10:26 AM Please respond to MQSeries List We bring down the OS/390 queue managers at 1:00 AM on Sundays. Then we FDR Dump the disks that contain the page datasets, logs and bootstrap datasets. Then restart the queue managers. Total down time for the queue managers is averaging around 15 minutes. It's not 24x7 availability, but our clients are okay with this. Regards, Curt -----Original Message----- From: PJose [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 1:26 PM To: MQSERIES Cc: PJose Subject: Backup and Recovery of MQSeries for OS390 Hello, I spent some time reading the red book MQSeries backup and Recovery And was interested in knowing how most shops handle backup and recovery for MQSeries for OS390. Do you backup pagesets? And how often? Do you take a fuzzy backup or back it up while qmgr is down? Or do you just backup the object definitions and let qmgr restart from the scratch. I know the backup plan will be differing from shop to shop but i was trying to get a general idea. Thanks in advance for all inputs. Prince ****************** People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abraham Lincoln ************************************************************************** This e-mail and any files transmitted with it may contain privileged or confidential information. It is solely for use by the individual for whom it is intended, even if addressed incorrectly. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender; do not disclose, copy, distribute, or take any action in reliance on the contents of this information; and delete it from your system. Any other use of this e-mail is prohibited. Thank you for your compliance. Instructions for managing your mailing list subscription are provided in the Listserv General Users Guide available at http://www.lsoft.com Archive: http://vm.akh-wien.ac.at/MQSeries.archive
