Backupsets vs. Archives

»Generated on the server, does not put a load on client and LAN.

»Can be restored locally on the node if a common media is used.

»No time dependency, all the week can be utilized to generate the backupsets.

» Writing is directly to tape, no frontend diskpool is necessary.

»Practically no impact on database size.

» Each backupset occupies at least one full volume.

» Generating backupsets can be a very slow process.

» Single file restore can only be done using the command line client and you must know the filename beforehand.

» No support for backupsets in TSM's scheduling mechanism.

» No central overview over which generations ran OK and which did not.

»Single file restore is easy because you can see the filetree displayed graphically.

» Full support for archives in TSM's scheduling mechanism.

»Puts a load on both clients and LAN.

»Big installations will often not be able to finish the complete archiving within the timespan of a weekend

»Many archiving schedules will report 'Failed' due to locked files even though they ran OK.

»Generating many archives simultanously requires a diskpool as frontend to the tapepool.

»Can make your database grow a lot !