Offsite data storage
To facilitate data recovery and as part of your disaster recovery strategy, store tape copies offsite.
Use the disaster recovery manager (DRM) function to configure and automatically generate a disaster recovery plan that contains the information, scripts, and procedures that are required to automatically restore the server and recover client data after a disaster. Choose from one of the following offsite data storage options as a disaster recovery strategy to protect tape copies:
- Offsite vaulting from a single production site
- Storage volumes, such as tape cartridges and media volumes, are vaulted at an offsite location. A courier transports the data from the offsite storage facility to the recovery site. If a disaster occurs, the volumes are sent back to the production site after hardware and the IBM Storage Protect server are restored.
- Offsite vaulting with a recovery site
- A courier moves storage volumes from the production site to an offsite storage facility. By having a dedicated recovery site, you can reduce recovery time compared to the single production site. However, this option increases the cost of disaster recovery because more hardware and software must be maintained. For example, the recovery site must have compatible tape devices and IBM Storage Protect server software. Before the production site can be recovered, the hardware and software at the recovery site must be set up and running.
- Electronic vaulting
- To use electronic vaulting as a disaster recovery strategy, the recovery site must have a running IBM Storage Protect server. Critical data is vaulted electronically from the production site to the recovery site. DRM is also used for offsite vaulting of noncritical data. Electronic vaulting moves critical data offsite faster and more frequently than traditional courier methods. Recovery time is reduced because critical data is already stored at the recovery site. However, because the recovery site runs continuously, the cost of the disaster recovery strategy is more expensive than offsite vaulting.