Steve - your process sounds similar to what I'm planning - here are the differences which may help
1. When the z/linux guests are stopped we plan to use flashcopy (or emc timefinder/snap) to make backup copies of the volumes and then restart the z/linux guests quickly. the backups will be done from the z/os side using df/dss (as we do not have tape on the z/vm system). With this the downtime for each z/vm lpar should be an estimated 10 minutes and the z/vm lpars will be processed in a rolling fashion. 2. We will be using fdr/upstream running in the z/linux guests to do the daily 'incremental' backups the fdr/upstream server will be running on z/os. hope this helps Lionel B. Dyck, Consultant/Specialist Enterprise Platform Services, Mainframe Engineering KP-IT Enterprise Engineering, Client and Platform Engineering Services (CAPES) 925-926-5332 (8-473-5332) | E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AIM: lbdyck | Yahoo IM: lbdyck Kaiser Service Credo: "Our cause is health. Our passion is service. We?re here to make lives better.? ?Never attribute to malice what can be caused by miscommunication.? NOTICE TO RECIPIENT: If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are prohibited from sharing, copying, or otherwise using or disclosing its contents. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and permanently delete this e-mail and any attachments without reading, forwarding or saving them. Thank you.
