Save-while-active and your backup and recovery strategy

 

How your save-while-active function fits into your backup and recovery strategy depends on whether you will reduce or eliminate your save-outage time. These pages contain information to help you decide how you will use the save-while-active function. It also contains pages with technical descriptions of the save-while-active function.

How the save-while-active function fits into your backup and recovery strategy depends on if you plan to reduce or eliminate your save-outage time.

• Save-while-active function
  The save-while-active function is an option on several i5/OS^® save commands. It allows you to save parts of your system without putting your system in a restricted state.

• Considerations and restrictions for the save-while-active function
  The save-while-active function affects important aspects of your system such as performance, auxiliary storage, and commitment control. The pages that follow contain considerations and restrictions in regard to these aspects of your system.

 

Parent topic:

Saving your system while it is active

Related concepts
Eliminating save-outage time: Overview Reducing save-outage time: Overview

 

Reducing your save-outage time

Reducing your save-outage time is the easiest way to use the save-while-active function. When you use this option, the restore procedure is the same as when you perform a standard save. In addition, you can use the save-while-active function to reduce your save-outage time without using journaling or commitment control. Unless you have no tolerance for a save-outage time, you should use the save-while-active function to reduce your save outage.

 

Eliminating your save-outage time

You can use the save-while-active function to eliminate your save outage. Use this option only if you have no tolerance for a save-outage time. You should use the save-while-active function to eliminate your save-outage time only for objects that you protect with journaling or commitment control. In addition you will have considerably more complex recovery procedures. You should consider these more complex recovery procedures in your disaster recovery plan.

 

Making your decision

This topic might help you decide how the save-while-active function fits into your backup and recovery plan. Review your applications. Other procedures that you use in your backup and recovery strategy still apply. You should still consider them when you review your backup and recovery procedures. You might conclude one of the following:

• Your current save strategy is adequate for your scheduled save-outage time.

• Critical application libraries are candidates for save-while-active processing.

• Your critical application libraries are candidates, but might require modification to minimize recovery procedures.

• Critical documents or folders are candidates.

• All application libraries are candidates because of a compressed save-outage time.

• You will use save-while-active to reduce your save-outage time because you can tolerate a small save outage time.

• You will use save-while-active to eliminate your save-outage time for the following reasons:

  • You have no tolerance for a save-outage time.

  • You are already using journaling and commitment control.

  • You plan to use journaling and commitment control.

The following pages may help you make an informed decision on how to use the save-while-active function.