Other types of TSM backups which can be used to reduce backup window timings

Other types of TSM backups which can be used to reduce backup window timings

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File List backup

Use filelist option during backup to control which files are to be backed up. The Tivoli Storage Manager client opens the file you specify with this option and processes the list of files within according to the specific command. You can use the filelist option with the following commands. ---- archive, backup group, delete archive, delete backup, expire, incremental, query archive, query backup, restore, retrieve, selective

For example:
selective -filelist=/home/filelist.txt

How it works
  • An application creates a list of files for backup and passes the list to the client.
  • The client runs a selective backup of the files that are specified in the list.
When to use
  • The scheduled backups are not completing within the allotted time.
  • The list of changed files is known.
Advantages
Selective backup eliminates the query of the server database and the scan of local file system.


Disadvantages
  • You must find a way to create the file list.
  •  You must explicitly specify the files. You cannot use wildcard characters or directory recursion in the file list.

Backup of Virtual Mount Points

Use virtual mount points to back up large, balanced, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris file systems that can be efficiently divided into logical partitions.. You can save processing time when you define a virtual mount point within a file system because it provides a direct path to the files that you want to back up.

If the directory that you want to specify as a virtual mount point is a symbolic link, set the followsymbolic option to Yes. If that option is set to no (the default), you are not permitted to use a symbolic link as a virtual mount point. Also, if you back up a file system, then add a virtual mount point, and then do another incremental on the file system, the files and directories in the virtual mount point directory are expired, because they are logically contained within the virtual mount point directory and not the file system.

When you specify a virtualmountpoint option, the path that it specifies is added to the default backup domain (domain all-local). The virtualmountpoint path is always considered a local "mount point" regardless of the real file system type it points to. 
virtualmountpoint /tmp/userfile/home/username

How it works
  • Instead of backing up an entire file system to a single file space on the server, you can logically partition a large file system into smaller file systems, and then define mount points for backup processing.
  • The file system that are represented by the mount points can be managed as separate file spaces on the server.
Advantages
Backup processing of virtual mount points provides a balanced approach to the backup of large file systems by effectively dividing them into  smaller file systems. It is more efficient than defining the file system with the domain  option, and then specifying the exclude  option to exclude the files you do not want to back up.
Disadvantages
  • This method of backup processing is not appropriate for a single directory that contains a large number of files.
  • Virtual mount points are static and cannot be changed.
  • This method requires monitoring to ensure that new directories are still backed up in one of the virtual mount points, along with other processing that is required to maintain the virtual mount point definitions.
  • Command-line restore operations require the use of braces ( { } ) to delimit the virtual mount point name in the file specification.
  • This method is only available for AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.

Snapshot Differential Backup

If you are backing up NetApp filer or vFiler volumes or N-Series file server volumes, you can use a snapshot differential backup to streamline the incremental backup process. Using the snapdiff option with the incremental command streamlines the incremental backup process. The command runs an incremental backup of the files that were reported as changed by NetApp instead of scanning all of the volume for changed files.
incremental -snapdiff -diffsnapshot=latest /data/datafile

How it works
  • The first time that you run an incremental backup with the snapdiff option, a snapshot is created (the base snapshot) and a traditional incremental backup is run by using this snapshot as the source. The name of the snapshot that is created is recorded in the Tivoli Storage Manager database.
  • The second time an incremental backup is run with the snapdiff option, a newer snapshot is either created, or an existing one is used to find the differences between these two snapshots. The second snapshot is called diffsnapshot. The client then incrementally backs up the files that are reported as changed by NetApp to the Tivoli Storage Manager server.

When to use
  • Use this method to back up NetApp filer or vFiler volumes or N-Series file server volumes on Windows, AIX 64-bit, and Linux x86/86_64 clients.
Advantages
  • Snapshot differential backup processing can save you time by not having to scan the whole volume for changed files.
Disadvantages
Snapshot differential backup processing has the following limitations:
  • On Windows systems, it does not work for any of the NetApp predefined shares, including C$, because the client cannot determine their mount points programmatically.
  • You must periodically take a new base snapshot with the createnewbase option to back up any files that might have been skipped.

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