HP-UX System Administrator's Guide: Routine Management Tasks

NOTE: To ensure against the possible destruction of your system and its data, store
the backup media away from your system.
Use Table 3-2: “Criteria for Selecting Media ” (page 124) to help you determine which
storage device to use for your backups. This table compares the supported device types
relative to each other; it does not give specific values. For detailed information, consult
the documentation that came with your tape or disk drive for capacity information
about the storage media.
Table 3-2 Criteria for Selecting Media
Suggested for
Unattended Backup?
Recovers and Backs
Up Data Quickly?
Holds Lots of
Data?
Storage Device Type
No
1
ExcellentExcellentDLT tape drive
YesExcellentExcellentDLT tape library
No
1
GoodVery GoodDDS format (DAT) tape drive
YesGoodVery GoodDDS format (DAT) tape drive
autoloader
NoExcellentGoodHard disk
Yes
1
GoodGoodOptical disk multi-disk library
No
1
GoodGoodOptical disk single drive
1 You can perform an unattended (automatic) backup if all of the data will fit on one tape, optical disk,
and so on.
Choosing a Backup/Recovery Utility
There are a number of different backup methods you may wish to choose from
depending on your system backup needs and your workgroup configurations. Some
recommended backup methods are:
• HP OpenView Omniback II
• HP SMH (System Management Homepage)
• HP-UX fbackup/frecover utilities
Choosing HP Omniback for Backup
If you are backing up large numbers of systems, the HP Omniback II software product
can be particularly useful. HP Omniback II is faster than other backup methods and
provides for unattended backup as well. It allows you to efficiently centralize and
administer backup procedures.
Using HP Omniback II involves setting up a database server and running Omniback
software that directs and records the backup process for clients.
124 Managing Systems