You can use physical full volume copy in conjunction with FlashCopy® or SnapShot to reduce the amount of time that your data is unavailable when you back it up.

Full volume copy, in conjunction with FlashCopy or SnapShot, can produce a copy of a volume in seconds. Then, DFSMSdss can dump the copy to tape while your applications are accessing the data on the original volume.

For more information about full volume copy, FlashCopy, and SnapShot, refer to Moving volumes.