Veritas NetBackup™ for DB2 Administrator's Guide

Media and device management

All devices supported by Media Manager are available to NetBackup for DB2.

Scheduling facilities

NetBackup scheduling facilities on the master server can be used to schedule automatic and unattended DB2 backups.

This feature also lets you choose the times when these operations can occur. For example, to prevent interference with normal daytime operations, you can schedule your database backups to occur only at night.

Multiplexed backups and restores

NetBackup for DB2 lets you take advantage of NetBackup's multiplexing capabilities. Multiplexing directs multiple data streams to one backup device, thereby reducing the time necessary to complete the operation.

Transparent DB2 and regular file system backup and restore operations

All backups and restores run simultaneously and transparently without any action from the NetBackup administrator.

The database administrator can run database backup and restore operations through NetBackup. An administrator or any other authorized user can use NetBackup to run database backups and restores.

Sharing the same storage units used for other file backups

It is possible to share the same devices and media used for other backups or to give DB2 exclusive use of certain devices and media. NetBackup for DB2 can use Media Manager, disk, and PureDisk storage units.

Centralized and networked backup operations

From the NetBackup master server, you can schedule database backups or start them manually for any client. The DB2 databases can also reside on hosts that are different from the devices on which NetBackup stores the backups.

Graphical user interfaces

A database administrator or NetBackup administrator can start backup or restore operations for DB2 from the NetBackup graphical user interface on the master server.

A database administrator can also use the IBM DB2 control center or command line processor to start user-directed backup and restore operations.

Templates

The NetBackup for DB2 database wizards can create backup and recovery templates. You can launch the backup wizard and the recovery wizard from the Backup, Archive, and Restore interface. The wizards generate platform-independent templates containing configuration information the software uses during backups and restores. Before you can create, modify, delete, or rename templates on the master server, the client must exist in a policy or in the NetBackup image catalog. Because the wizard-generated templates do not support all the features native to DB2, you may want to write a customized backup or restore script. You should use an operating-system defined scripting language to create the scripts and use a template as the base for a script.

Parallel backup and restore operations

NetBackup for DB2 supports the parallel backup and restore capabilities of DB2 commands. For example, this permits the user to run more than one tape device at a time for a single DB2 backup or restore, thereby reducing the time necessary to complete the operation.

Compression

Compression increases backup performance over the network and reduces the size of the backup image that NetBackup writes to the storage unit.