jdc@naucse.UUCP (John Campbell) (02/13/88)
A while ago I requested information about using DECnet to do remote
backups. As promised here is a summary of responses. The final
answer, by the way, seems to fall into 3 categories:
1) have enough disk space on the host system to make a disk save_set (
remember that DECnet is limited to 4096 byte transfers),
2) buy RSM (which works with backup to start two cooperating transfer
programs--one on each machine),
3) wait hope and pray that better peripheral support will "magically"
appear in VMS v5.
PS Dave Stevens, my mail to you bounced--I would love to have a copy
of your INFO-VAX command procedure...
From arizona!BUHLE@xrt.upenn.edu Sat Feb 6 17:53:57 1988
Posted-Date: Sat, 6 Feb 88 18:38 EDT
Message-Id: <8802062337.AA21069@linc.cis.upenn.edu>
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 88 18:38 EDT
Subject: RE: Tape access over DECnet?
To: naucse!jdc
X-Vms-To: IN%"naucse!jdc@arizona.edu"
Status: R
No, you cannot explicitly access a tape drive via a remote node using VMS V4.7
However, you can do backups of a remote disk and place the backup set onto
tape. You must have sufficient disk space on your remote node.
A general summary is as follows: First you backup your desired target
to a local disk saveset. Then you copy across DECnet the saveset from the
remote node to a disk on the node where the tape drive lives. Then you
initialize the tape with the blocksize of the saveset, mount the tape FILES-11,
and COPY the saveset onto the tape. You can then dismount the tape, remount it
foreign, and do a BACKUP/LIST to check.
I can be much more specific if you wish, but there are several
assumptions about disk space and error control that you may have noticed in the
above discription. If I can be of any more help, let me know. Good luck.
Loren Buhle
bitnet: BUHLE%XRT@RELAY.UPENN.EDU
From arizona!OBERMAN@icdc.llnl.gov Mon Feb 8 17:48:21 1988
Message-Id: <8802082357.AA07030@megaron.arizona.edu>
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 88 15:53 PST
From: "Kevin Oberman, LLNL, (415) 422-6955, L-156" <arizona!OBERMAN@icdc.llnl.gov>
Subject: RE: Tape access over DECnet?
To: naucse!jdc
X-Vms-To: IN%"naucse!jdc@arizona.EDU"
Status: R
>Has anyone accessed a tape drive over DECnet? In particular, we are
>about to put a machine out in the boonies and wonder how much system
>maintenance we can perform over DECnet. Since this will be only our
>second machine, we don't have a lot of in-house experience with DECnet.
>
>1. Can you expect to back up an RA81 over DECnet on a tape drive not
> attached to the same machine as the disk? Would you want to?
>
>2. Could you access the said tape drive directly from the other machine?
> (Assume we can only afford 1 6250 drive.)
>
>Please respond directly to me--I'll summarize if it seems my questions
>are of any general interest.
The obvious, but not exclusive, answer to your problem is Remote System
Manager. It has the ability to do most system management operations including
BACKUP over the net. The only problem with it (at least in V1.0) is that
it's SLOW!.
You can generate your own known object to allow the same thing, although
it probably won't be any faster.
R. Kevin Oberman
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov
(415) 422-6955
Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing
and probably don't really know anything useful about anything.
From arizona!SEVERYN%VAXR@circus.llnl.gov Mon Feb 8 17:48:29 1988
Message-Id: <8802090004.AA07568@megaron.arizona.edu>
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 88 15:38 PST
Subject: RE: Tape access over DECnet?
To: naucse!jdc
X-Vms-To: CIRCUS::IN%"naucse!jdc@arizona.EDU"
Status: R
No you cannot directly access the tape drive from a remote node using 4.6.
But you CAN access a remote disk drive. We here at the Laser program in
Lawrence Livermore Lab, have been using this scheme to do all our backups
across 40 nodes (many disk drives). We backup to a set of disk drives, and
then the next morning, our operator just uses COPY to move the savesets to
tape. You can even install software using VMSINSTAL if you first put the
kit on a remote disk. Note that you CANNOT install VMS this way....just
all other layered products.
John Severyn
(415) 422-5383
From arizona!DSTEVENS@VAXC.STEVENS-TECH.EDU Mon Feb 8 07:36:04 1988
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 88 09:23:52 EST
From: arizona!DSTEVENS@VAXC.STEVENS-TECH.EDU (David L. Stevens)
To: naucse!jdc
Subject: RE: Tape access over DECnet?
X-Vms-To: Q%"naucse!jdc@arizona.edu"
Message-Id: <881892353.20600698.DSTEVENS>
Status: R
I have a command procedure I got off INFO-VAX quite a while ago that is supposedto allow for backups over the network. I don't know if it works, cause I never
got around to running it. Also as I uderstand it there may be support for
network backups in VMS v5. Let me know if you want a copy of the command file.
Dave Stevens
Senior Systems Programmer
Stevens Institute of Technology
Bitnet: DSTEVENS@SITVXB
Internet: DSTEVENS@VAXC.STEVENS-TECH.EDU
------------
--
John Campbell ...!arizona!naucse!jdc
unix? Sure send me a dozen, all different colors.chris@acrux.usc.edu (Christopher Ho) (02/23/88)
In article <578@naucse.UUCP> you write: [...] >2) buy RSM (which works with backup to start two cooperating transfer > programs--one on each machine), [...] >You can generate your own known object to allow the same thing, although >it probably won't be any faster. [...] We developed and have been using a utility to do network BACKUPs for some three years now. It's been gradually enhanced to simplify and centralize incremental and full BACKUPs for ~15 VMS systems and perhaps 10 GB of disk space. Every so often on INFO-VAX I offer to distribute this, but I see there are new and/or non-ARPAnet readers here on comp.os.vms. If there's demand, I'll set up an ANONYMOUS FTP location where it can be accessed. UUCP or BITNET users can send me a message. chris@oberon.usc.edu (preferred) chris@kylara.bitnet