Full Backup vs mksysb

[rondebbs]

My company does not get regular mksybs from our aix 5.2 and 5.3 boxes. However we do get nightly full backups to tape with veritas netbackup. This backs up all the file systems including rootvg.

In the event of a complete failure of our p570 we would likely need to create our systems on another AIX box. I'm guessing we would start with the base OS and then restore rootvg from tape. We could then recover other non rootvg file systems from the same tape.

Does this make any sense? Will the restore of the netbackup tape accomplish the same thing as the mksysb? I don't feel comfortable without the msksysb backups.

 

[plamb]

mksysb is a complete backup of rootvg. This will allow you to do a "bare" metal retore for the OS only

 

[bi]

I think you are correct in feeling nervous about not having regular mksysbs done.

If you create a mksysb image (a file, not a tape) and implement NIM in your environment to push the mksysb to a NIM client, I think it would be more efficient to push a mksysb to recover a server than rebuild the OS from installation CDs and go back and restore from backup. Another advantage is that you can boot the system over the network with a mksysb image. (This works best if you have HMC or a terminal server set up for the system you are recovering to.) With a CD, you have to have someone at the data center to put the CD in.

Also, the logical volumes on a freshly installed OS will most likely be a different size than those on a system that has been up and running for a while. Restoring a backup won't extend the filesystems. You'd have to do that manually before you do the restore.

If you have any non-standard filesystems in rootvg, a restore from CD won't create those. You'll have to do it manually, as well.