5 Copying, Migrating and Vaulting

UPSTREAM provides a utility to copy, migrate and vault backups to new tapes or disk.  You might want to use this when:

  • You wish to make a simple backup of a disk or tape backup for off-site storage without pre-indexing or retention management.  Use the copy option to copy the backups onto new disk files or a new tape set and then regen them into UPSTREAM at the off-site location.  See section 5.3 The /copy Option below.
  • You wish to store multiple backups for multiple profiles on a single tape or tape set and do not wish to use Profile Sets.  Using the migration option you can coalesce a number of backups on disk or tape onto a single tape set allowing you to get the most from your tapes.  See section 5.4 The /migrate Option below.
  • You wish to run a large number of backups at the same time.  In this case you would run these backups to disk.  When the backups complete, use the migration option to migrate them to a single tape set.  See section 5.4 The /migrate Option below.
  • You wish to move data from one media type to another.  For example, to take advantage of a new tape drive technology or from an old disk system to a new one.  See section 5.4 The /migrate Option below.
  • You wish to create a backup copy of your backups for extra security.  See section 5.5 The /vault Option below.
  • You wish to create a backup copy of your backups for off-site storage.  See section 5.5 The /vault Option below. uscopy is a command line program, which is used to perform these functions.  It can operate in three modes:
  • Copy simply makes a copy of one or more backups onto disk or tape.  Using the /copy feature, UPSTREAM marks the tapes as allocated to the tape manager, but does not catalog either the tapeset or the data within the backups.  You might use this method to create an off-site copy which would be imported into another Reservoir or FDR/UPSTREAM system.
  • Migrate one or more backups to disk or a new tape set, regenerating the database to point to the new tape.  The old backup disk files are deleted or prior tapes are scratched (if emptied).  This is the /migrate feature and it is usually used to either move backups from disk to tape or combine a number of separate tape backups on a single tape.
  • Vault one or more backups to a new disk or a tape set, creating separate indexes and retention periods for these backups.  This is the /vault feature and is a very powerful feature allowing off-site storage and multiple copies of backups.

Typically you decide the uscopy function you wish to implement, test the command line function and then integrate it into a scheduler.  Or an administrator may use it for a single function.  uscopy is not intended to be a user initiated facility.

Note that while the current Director does not support saving or reading the commands to a FILE=<file name>.uscopy (a command which has all of the remaining commands obtained from a file you build), you can use the Director in helping you build your FILE, by cutting and pasting from the saved data generated from the Director.  Note that in a FILE, you must have each space separated command on a separate line.  Also note that you can add comments by having lines that begin with a star ‘*’.

When you use uscopy to move a group of backups to new tape, they get coalesced onto a single tapeset.  However, if you move them to disk, then each backup goes to a separate disk file.  The location of the disk file depends on the operation.  If you are using copy, then the profile or the OUTPROFILE is used.  If you are using migrate, then the current profile name is used.  If you are vaulting, then the VAULTxxx profile is used (where the ‘xxx’ is the vault number).

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