Using snapshot processing

The SNAPSHOT UPGRADE FEATURE (SUF) of the EXTENDED BUFFER MANAGER (XBM) product provides an interface to the snapshot-enabled BMC utilities.

This interface allows the utilities to use XBM snapshot technology while performing their individual purposes. Traditional software and hardware snapshots typically allow the utilities to significantly reduce the amount of time that databases have to be unavailable while the utilities perform various maintenance tasks. Instant Snapshots provide an extremely fast way to create a physical copy of the data upon which the utility can operate. For more information about how your utility uses the snapshot features offered by XBM, see the documentation for your utility.

To use the snapshot features of XBM with your utility, you must first understand the different types of snapshots that XBM provides and enable XBM to process the types of snapshots that you need. This section provides an overview of how to use XBM for snapshot processing. Subsequent sections discuss the different types of snapshots in more detail.

• Snapshot types that XBM can process
• How the SSI component works
• Which type of snapshots to use
• Controlling which types of snapshots are enabled
• Setting up XBM to enable snapshot processing
• How the DBMS type affects snapshot processing
• Enabling software snapshots
• Enabling hardware snapshots
• Enabling Instant Snapshots
• XBM options
• Using the XBM utility program for a VSAM snapshot copy