Tivoli® Storage Manager provides different backup, archive, and restore operations, that allow you to select the right protection for the situation.
Table 1 provides details about backup and archive protection options and how they can help you meet goals for data management.
| For this goal... | Complete this task... |
|---|---|
| Back up files that are on a user's workstation. | Use the backup-archive client to perform incremental or selective backups. |
| Back up data for an application that runs continuously, such as a database application (for example, DB2® or Oracle) or a mail application, such as Lotus® Domino®. | Use the appropriate application client. For example, use Tivoli Storage Manager for Mail to protect the LotusDomino application. |
| Protect virtual machines that are running VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V. | Use Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for VMware or Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for Microsoft Hyper-V. |
| Use disk hardware that is capable of data snapshots. | Use the appropriate component in the IBM® Tivoli Storage FlashCopy® Manager product, such as System Storage® Archive Manager for IBM Enterprise Storage Server® for DB2. |
| Back up a file server. | Use the backup-archive client to perform incremental
backups or selective backups. If the file server is a network-attached storage file server that is supported, you can have the server use NDMP to perform image backups. This support is available in the Tivoli Storage Manager Extended Edition product. |
| Make restore media portable, or make restores easier to perform remotely. | Use the backup-archive client to perform incremental backups, and then generate backup sets by using the Tivoli Storage Manager server. A backup set is a collection of backed-up data from one client, which is stored and managed as a single object on specific media in server storage |
| Back up the entire contents of a single logical volume, instead of backing up individual files. | Use the backup-archive client to perform logical volume backups (also called image backups). |
| Set up records retention to meet legal or other long-term storage needs. | Use the backup-archive client to occasionally archive data. To ensure that the archiving occurs at the required intervals, use central scheduling. |
| Create an archive for a backup-archive client, from data that is already stored for backup. | Use the backup-archive client to perform incremental
backups, and then generate a backup set by using the Tivoli Storage
Manager server. Tip: This process is also called instant archive.
|
| Restore data to a point in time. | Use the backup-archive client to regularly perform
incremental backups, either manually or automatically through schedules.
Then do one of the following:
|
| Save a set of files and directories before you make significant changes to them. | Use the backup-archive client to archive the
set of files and directories. If this kind of protection is needed regularly, consider creating backup sets from backup data that is already stored for the client. Using backup sets instead of frequent archive operations can reduce the amount of metadata that must be stored in the server database. |
| Manage a set of related files, which are not in the same file system, with the same backup, restore, and server policies. | Use the backup group command on the backup-archive client to create a logical grouping of a set of files, which can be from one or more physical file systems. The group backup process creates a virtual file space in server storage to manage the files because the files might not be from one file system on the client. Actions such as policy binding, migration, expiration, and export are applied to the group as a whole. |
| Make backups that are not apparent to users. | Use the backup-archive client with centrally scheduled backups that run during off-shift hours. Monitor the schedule results. |
| Reduce the load on the LAN by moving backup data over the SAN. | Use LAN-free data movement or, for supported network-attached storage (NAS) file servers, use NDMP operations. |
Schedule the backups of client data to help enforce the data management policy that you establish. If you schedule the backups, rather than rely on the clients to perform the backups, the policy that you establish is followed more consistently.
The standard backup method that Tivoli Storage Manager uses is called progressive incremental backup. It is a unique and efficient method for backup.
Table 2 summarizes the client operations that are available. In all cases, the server tracks the location of the backup data in its database. Policy that you set determines how the backup data is managed.
| Description | Usage | Restore options | For more information | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive incremental backup | The standard method of backup that is used by Tivoli Storage
Manager. After the
first, full backup of a client system, incremental backups are done.
Incremental backup by date is also available. No additional full backups of a client are required after the first backup. |
Helps ensure complete, effective, policy-based backup of data. Eliminates the need to retransmit backup data that does not change during successive backup operations. | The user can restore just the version of
the file that is needed. Tivoli Storage Manager does not need to restore a base file followed by incremental backups. This method reduces time and requires fewer tape mounts. Also, less data is transmitted over the network. |
See Incremental backup. |
| Selective backup | Backup of files that are selected by the user, regardless of whether the files have changed since the last backup. | Allows users to protect a subset of their data independent of the normal incremental backup process. | The user can restore just the version of
the file that is needed. Tivoli Storage Manager does not need to restore a base file followed by incremental backups. This method reduces time and requires fewer tape mounts. Also, less data is transmitted over the network. |
See Selective backup. |
| Adaptive subfile backup | A backup method that backs up only the parts
of a file that have changed since the last backup. The server stores
the base file (the complete initial backup of the file) and subsequent
subfiles (the changed parts) that depend on the base file. The process works with either the standard progressive incremental backup or with selective backup. Applicable to clients on Windows systems. |
Maintains backups of data while minimizing connect time and data transmission for the backup of mobile and remote users. | The base file plus a maximum of one subfile is restored to the client. | See Enabling clients to use subfile backup. |
| Journal-based backup | Aids all types of backups (progressive incremental backup, selective backup, adaptive subfile backup) by basing the backups on a list of changed files. The list is maintained on the client by the journal engine service of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. | Reduces the amount of time that is required
for backup. The files eligible for backup are known before the backup
operation begins. Applicable to clients on AIX®, Linux, and Windows systems, except Windows 2003 64-bit IA64. |
Journal-based backup has no effect on how files are restored. Restore operations are dependent on the type of backup that is performed. |
|
| Image backup | Full volume backup. Nondisruptive, online backup is possible for Windows clients by using the Tivoli Storage Manager snapshot function. |
Allows backup of an entire file system or raw volume as a single object. Can be selected by backup-archive clients on Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems. | The entire image is restored. | See Policy for logical volume backups. |
| Image backup with differential backups | Full volume backup, which can be followed by subsequent differential backups. | Used only for the image backups of NAS file servers, performed by the server using NDMP operations. | The full image backup plus a maximum of one differential backup are restored. | See Using NDMP for operations with NAS file servers. |
| Backup using hardware snapshot capabilities | A method of backup that uses the capabilities of IBM Enterprise Storage Server FlashCopy and EMC TimeFinder to make copies of volumes that are used by database servers. The Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager product then uses the volume copies to back up the database volumes. | Implements high-efficiency backup and recovery of business-critical applications while virtually eliminating backup-related downtime or user disruption on the database server. | Details depend on the hardware. | See the documentation for Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager at http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SS36V9. |
| Group backup | A method that backs up files that you specify
as a named group. The files can be from one or more file spaces. The
backup can be a full or a differential backup. Applicable to clients on and Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems. |
Creates a consistent point-in-time backup of a group of related
files. The files can be in different file spaces on the client. All
objects in the group are assigned to the same management class. The
server manages the group as a single logical entity, and stores the
files in a virtual file space in server storage. A group can be included in a backup set. |
The user can select to restore the entire group or selected members of the group. The user can restore just the version of the file that is needed. | |
| Archive | The process creates a copy of files and stores them for a specific time. | Use for maintaining copies of vital records
for legal or historical purposes. Note: If you need to frequently
create archives for the same data, consider using instant archive
(backup sets) instead. Frequent archive operations can create a large
amount of metadata in the server database resulting in increased database
growth and decreased performance for server operations such as expiration.
Frequently, you can achieve the same objectives with incremental backup
or backup sets. Although the archive function is a powerful way to
store inactive data with fixed retention, it should not be used on
a frequent and large-scale basis as the primary backup method.
|
The selected version of the file is retrieved on request. | See Archive. |
| Instant archive | The process creates a backup set of the most recent versions of the files for the client by using files already in server storage from earlier backup operations. | Use when portability of the recovery media or rapid recovery of a backup-archive client is important. Also use for efficient archiving. | The files are restored directly from the backup set. The backup set resides on media that can be mounted on the client system, such as a CD, a tape drive, or a file system. The Tivoli Storage Manager server does not have to be contacted for the restore process, so the process does not use the network or the server. | See Creating and using client backup sets. |
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