At 01:39 PM 11/8/2007, Dwight Cook wrote:
if your media is portable to your new platform, you should be able to just export/import your data base... then modify your library definition to point to the new device definition... put in new drive definitions... and you are back in business...
It would be great if you could do this with TSM, but you can't. This is what I am asking for. I have done this when migrating from one pSeries server to another, but you cannot do this when switching server platforms. At 01:11 PM 11/8/2007, Nicholas Cassimatis wrote:
You've got to ask if it's reasonable to expect to be able to be running the same system in 25 years as you are now. Consider this - many people aren't using the same tape technology they were 5 years ago! And there's more layers after that - should you be able to provide the data, will there be an application available to use it? And an OS that will run the application? And a machine that will run the OS?
Nicholas - I think you're missing the point. TSM has already solved most of the issues that you've identified. It can already easily migrate data from one tape technology to another. No need to worry about keeping old media reading devices around for years. It's easy to migrate your server from one generation to the next, without moving all of your data, so long as the OS doesn't change. The only missing links are: 1. Changing OS platforms 2. TSM end-of-life as a product It's the first of those that I am addressing. It would be very valuable (IMHO) if I could export my database from one OS, import it onto a new OS, and have it point to all the same tape media. All that would be needed to do this would be some sort of shim (translator) that would allow TSM to read tapes created on another platform. It would be sufficient if it could just provide readonly access. readwrite isn't that important. The challenge here is to accomplish this transition in a short time period, so that you don't disrupt your normal daily operational environment. As for the second item (TSM end-of-life), this is a larger problem that archivists continually struggle with. There are many proposed solutions to this, but the most viable long-term media continues to be archival quality paper. All I can say to this concern is, when and if this happens, you will have to move all of your data out of TSM and into the next solution. This doesn't mean that solving the "OS transition" problem is any less valuable. TSM can easily move data from one storage medium to another. What I'm looking for is a way to move the meta-data and data from one OS platform to another. ..Paul -- Paul Zarnowski Ph: 607-255-4757 Manager, Storage Services Fx: 607-255-8521 719 Rhodes Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-3801 Em: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
