Your Tivoli® Storage Manager administrator can generate a backup set, which is a collection of your files that reside on the server, onto portable media created on a device using a format that is compatible with the client device.
You can restore data from a backup set from the Tivoli Storage Manager server, or when the backup set is locally available as a file or on a tape device.
You can restore backup sets from the following locations:
- From the Tivoli Storage Manager server
- From portable media on a device attached to your client workstation
- From a backup set file on your client workstation
Backup sets can provide you with instant archive and rapid recovery capability as described in the following list.
- Instant archive
- This capability allows an administrator to create an archive collection from backup versions already stored on the server.
- Rapid recovery with local backup sets
Typically, restores are performed from normal file backups that are stored on the Tivoli Storage Manager server outside of backup sets. This restore approach gives you the ability to restore the most recent backup version of every file. It is possible that a backup set does not contain the most recent backup version of your files.
In some cases restoring data from a backup set can be a better option than restoring data from normal backup files on the Tivoli Storage Manager server. Restoring from a backup set can be a better option for the following reasons:
- A backup set restore can provide for a faster recovery because all of the required files for restore are contained together within a smaller number of storage volumes.
- A backup set provides a point-in-time collection of files. You can restore to a point in time rather than restoring what is currently available from a normal file-level restore from the server.
You can perform an ASR restore using a backup
set volume.
Restoring a backup set from the Tivoli Storage Manager server provides a larger set of restore options than restoring from a local backup set. However, restoring from a local backup set can be preferable in some cases:
- It is possible that you need to restore your data when a network connection to the Tivoli Storage Manager server is not available. This is possible in a disaster recovery situation.
- The local restore may be faster than restoring over a network connection to your Tivoli Storage Manager server.
A backup set can be restored from the Tivoli Storage Manager server while the backup set volumes are available to the server, or they can be moved to the client system for a local backup set restore. A backup set can be generated with or without a table of contents (TOC), and can contain file data or image data.
The backup set can contain system state data.
Your ability to restore data from backup sets is restricted by the location of the backup set and the type of data in the backup set. The command-line client can restore some data that the GUI cannot restore, but the GUI can allow you to browse and choose which objects to restore. Generally, backup sets from the server with a TOC allow more options when restoring. However, local backup sets provide options that are sometimes preferable to restoring from theTivoli Storage Manager server.
The restrictions for restoring data from backup sets using the GUI are summarized in the following table. Each interior cell represents one combination of data type and backup set location. For each situation, the cell indicates if you can use the GUI to restore only the entire backup set, to select objects within the backup set, or if you cannot use the GUI to restore the backup set.
| Data type in the backup set | Backup set location | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Local (location=file or location=tape) | Tivoli Storage Manager Server (TOC available) | Tivoli Storage Manager Server (TOC not available) | |
| file | Restore entire backup set only. | Restore entire backup set, or selected objects in the backup set. | Restore entire backup set only. |
| image | Cannot be restored. | Restore entire backup set, or selected objects in the backup set. | Cannot be restored. |
| system state | Restore entire backup set only. | Restore entire backup set, or selected objects in the backup set. | Restore entire backup set only. |
The restrictions for restoring data from backup sets using the command-line client are summarized in the following table. Each interior cell represents one combination of data type and backup set location. For each situation, the cell lists the restore commands you can use. Except as noted, you can restore specific objects within a backup set, as well as the entire backup set.
| Data type in the backup set | Backup set location | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Local (location=file or location=tape) | Tivoli Storage Manager Server (TOC available) | Tivoli Storage Manager Server (TOC not available) | |
| file | Commands: |
Commands: |
Commands: |
| image | Cannot be restored | Command: |
Cannot be restored |
| system state | Command: |
Commands: |
Command: |
