Re: Slow DB2 backups and IBM says I'm too old for support
Keep in mind, this system has been working flawlessly for at least two years, which is why we don't touch it. We have enough headaches, we don't need to create our own. :-) At the time we noticed this problem we were doing tests before putting this machine into production, a backup test is standard procedure. The system was idle except for this backup, this was during the day, so no other backups were going on at the same time, hence, the TSM server was also idle. Our quick reality check was to kick off a backup from a known working server, and watch the traffic. Pretty much nailing this down to the client machine, or a TSM version incompatibility issue. Backups were going to a disk storage pool, not tape. One of my original questions. What are the current supported versions of TSM, and which of those supported versions is known as the stable one, backing up TDP Domino, Oracle, DB2 (via API) and standard filesystem backups. This upgrade has been put off because I've been told it is a double hit, OS and TSM at the same time. Not fun, but at least the maintenance window is during the day. Versions: TSM Server: 4.2.1.7 Server OS: AIX: 433-10 (32-bit) Client OS: AIX 510-03 (32-bit) TSM API: 4.2.3.0 <- I seem to recall we had to go above 4.2.1.7 to get it to work at all. It appears I need to get some PTF's for AIX 5 that are known to fix network problems, so I'll start there -JeffR
Slow DB2 backups and IBM says I'm too old for support.
We have what appeared to be a simple problem, we installed a new DB2 server and the backups (API) are slow, like 27 hours to backup a 100GB database. We have been backing up this database for years from a different server in less than two hours. The main difference between the two servers? The AIX version, the old server is AIX 4.3.3 the new one is AIX 5. The new server has been doing backups of small databases without issue for a few months. FWIW - when I look at the traffic on the Ethernet interface, I see 800KB/s when the new server is doing a backup. I see 2500KB/s when the old server is doing a back up. The servers share the same backup network. So, the TSM server seems fine, it appears the client is not sending data. I have no idea if this can be tuned or not, or if we have a version compatibility issue. So, we called TSM support, where we were more or less told to go away, "your server is too old, your contract does not cover it." So, that is what I pay all this passport advantage money for. This leads me to my question, what version of TSM is currently supported, and which supported version is considered stable? I sure don't want to upgrade a working, super stable TSM install. But apparently I have to. I'm quite annoyed with IBM lately, it seems like customer service for all products is going downhill. If you have ever had an AIX problem and accidentally muttered the words "FASTt" you know what I"m talking about, they drop the call and ask for a P.O. -JeffR
TSM API Crashing DB2
This is the environment. AIX 5.1 TSM Client and API 4.2.11 DB2 7.2 FixPack 4 ba client can do incrementals and archives just fine. Setup all the db2 variables, setup the dsm.sys and opt for the API - we have other DB2 servers on AIX 4.3.3, same TSM and DB2 versions working just fine. Send a backup of a small database from DB2 and get the following. db2 => backup db databasename online use tsm SQL1224N A database agent could not be started to service a request, or was terminated as a result of a database system shutdown or a force command. SQLSTATE=55032 This is a brand new system, so there could be some stupidity in the DB2 setup, missing OS patches, etc. In any event, TSM actually CRASHING db2 is a really scary problem Before I dig, I wanted to see if anybody else has seen this one. -JeffR
DB2 API and Compression
We just switched from doing DB2 database dumps to disk and sweeping them to TSM via dsmc to using the API and going direct from DB2 to TSM. A quick search through the list archives did not turn up an answer to the question, can we still compress the backups client side? Basically, I want to save space in the disk storage pools and generate less network traffic. Especially considering the DB2 backups compress somewhere around 70%
RedHat 8 and TSM Client
Before I go and upgrade my Thinkpad to RedHat Linux 8, does anybody know if the TSM client runs on RH 8? It would be a bummer to wipe my machine out, install a new OS, only to find out I can't get at my backups anymore. -JeffR
Re: hardware questions before I buy
And btw. what is the price of an IBM 200GB disk ?? AFAIK they even do not offer 180 GB as Seagate does and larger SCSI one is 73 GB. Zlatko Krastev IT Consultant I was using multiple 36 or 72 GB SCSI or SSA disks to reach 200 GB total storage before raid.
Migrate wants scratch, I can't label.
I think I know what is going on here, but I want to double check I have a manual library, it is used as the migration point for a specific disk pool. Basically the disk pool and drive are used for one specific client that wants dedicated media. Anyway, TSM wants a scratch volume, I figure, no problem, I throw in a blank tape, run dsmlabel, label a tape, it reports success, so I shove the tape back in the drive. It is still asking for SCRTCH R/W. In fact it has been for the last 100 minutes. I tried "Label libvolume 4mmlib1 ds3-02 OVERWRITE=Yes" and the console tells me that the library has no available drives. Mountlimit is set to DRIVES, maxscratch is like 500 or something. "select count(*) as num_scratch_tapes from libvolumes where status ='Scratch' " returns 0 Do I need to kill the migration process, then use "Label Libvolume" by any chance? Thanks -JeffR
Recovering NT TSM Server
I'm new to TSM and I'm practicing disaster recovery. I successfully performed a bare metal restore on AIX, I went from one "production" (B50) system to a different (H70) "backup" system, but I can't do the same with Windows NT. Here are some particulars. All this work is for testing and education, so no emergency here. TSM 4.1.x The "production" system had a single DLT drive, I think it lived at mt6.0.0.2 or something. It was doing database/log backups to sequential files. I have the device config, volume history, database and log files from the original system. The "replacement" system has the same DLT drive, on a different controller, I think it is mt6.0.0.3 now. The replacement system also has a 4mm DAT drive at mt2.0.0.2 I've tried several different things to recover my volumes, none of them have worked. Now after a couple install/uninstalls of the TSM Server software, I have a mess in my service control panel that is preventing anything from running. What is the proper procedure for recovery to new hardware on NT? How do I clean up the mess in my registry?
Managing DB and Log Backups
Anybody know of a reference on "best practices" for TSM? If one exists, then it probably answers the following question. What is the best way to handle the db and log backups with the following meager hardware. I ask this because using up two (or more) 100GB tapes for our <1GB db is not acceptable. Actually, using the tapes is not a big deal, but using the tape slots is. Available HW. 1 LTO drive, with a small autoloader (IBM 3581) One slot used for cleaning cart. 20gb of space available for disk pools (soon to be 100GB) Have to use this space for reclaim too. 1 DDS3 4mm drive. Manual. I need to get by till q2 of next year, when I can budget for a 3583 or similar and that rather large TSM library license fee.
TDP Domino crashing
I had TDP for Domino running on a schedule, and all was good. Particulars: Client: BA 4.2.1 - TDP Domino 1.1.2.0 - Domino 5.07a, NT4 SP latest. Server: TSM 4.1.4.0 - AIX 4.3.3 Suddenly one day, we started getting a "Dr. Watson" errors on the Domino Server every morning, the offending app is domdsmc.exe, it is the usual "memory can not be read" error. Odd thing is, I can run the script (batch file) manually and it runs to completion. Any ideas?
Re: Point system has me very confused
Well, I started the thread, so I thought I'd report on my progress since the original post. I've managed to come across a very capable IBM Business Partner and Tivoli Sales rep. It made all the difference in the world. My software and DB2 reps at IBM found the good Tivoli people, and the Tivoli people sent me to the business partner. It is a shame this was so hard because we run DB2 on AIX, which made choosing TSM almost a no brainer. We have had such good luck in dealing with IBM in the past that this really blind sided me. Now I can finally get moving on this project and go back to worrying about backing up my data and keeping my servers running.
Point system has me very confused
Can somebody help me to understand this point/tier system. It understand that sharing Tivoli pricing information is some kind of no-no, so please feel free to reply off-list. What I think I understand so far. Workstation Clients ??? Tier 1 - 1 ~ 4 processors on Intel 32bit hardware. Tier 2 - RISC or Intel 64bit - I assume 5 ~ 8 processor 32bit Intel boxes as well. Tier 3 - Greater than 8 processor?? In Tivoli pricing land, what is considered a "server". For example, I don't think an RS/6000 Model B50 (piece of junk) with a 9GB drive used for development work should be a Tier 2 machine. I don't even consider it a Tier 1 machine. Even though it runs DB2, it is basically a workstation. How many points is each tier worth, and where do normal workstation machines fit in? How many points is the TSM server itself? on a tier 1 (NT) server? on a tier 2 (AIX) server? How many points are the Data Protection products, specifically Domino? What about DB2, do you just buy enough points to cover the tier of the machine? Even if there is no plan to backup "files"
Pricing Questions
First a question, how has this value based pricing been received by the industry? Is TSM still price competitive in it's market space? Does it have to be this confusing? I just got a system quote and I'm shocked. We are a small shop, mostly IBM software and hardware. This was going to be a no-brainer, we were just going to expand our current TSM installation. I'm glad we are not so deeply invested in TSM that we can't consider a vendor change. It is almost like Tivoli does not want to sell this software.
Re: Pricing Question
Well, right after I posted that message about pricing frustrations with Tivoli, I received a quote for NetBackup. It is four times the cost of TSM. Keep in mind, everything I'm currently comparing is list pricing, but the delta between the two is huge. Netbackup must be one heck of a piece of software. My eyes are opening. This isn't Backup Exec, NT Backup, shell scripts and TAR anymore :-)
