We are looking at how to manage the recovery of profiles and passwords in an environment where the profiles cannot be managed constantly. When using our HA4i product we have the ability to constantly maintain the user profiles and passwords because the user profiles are allowed to exist on the target system. However in an environment such as that required for the LVLT4i product User Profiles cannot exist because they may conflict with other profiles from other clients (All user profiles have to exist in *SYSBAS)
The process we have tested involves using the SAVSECDTA command to save the data to a save file, this save file can be automatically replicated to the iASP on the target system. The Profile information is captured in a file which is also replicated to the target iASP using normal replication processes (Remote Journals). When the system needs to be rebuilt for recovery the information collected in the SAVSECDTA file will be restored, the profiles will be updated using the profile data we have collected and then the RSTAUT command will be run. This will bring the system and profiles up to the latest content available.
While we were testing the processes we noticed a very strange thing. The first time we ran the request on a system it took a little while to complete about 1 minute, but when we ran the request again it took only a couple of seconds? The content of the save file was the same (we even set the compression level to high with no significant impact) but why is it taking so long the first time? We thought that maybe it was because the save file was already available (we put it in QTEMP) but again signing off and on then retrying gave us the same results, it now only took a few seconds to complete the save? Signing onto another system and doing the exact same process yielded the same results, the first time took about 1 minute while subsequent tries only took a few seconds.
We do not know what is going on under the covers but it certainly seems like something gets lined up after the first save, this leads us to believe that doing a SAVSECDTA on a regular basis (nightly?) may not be a bad thing. If you have any information as to why, let us know as we are very curious.
LVLT4i is new and while we feel the product should attract a number of Managed Service Providers we are interested in knowing what you think. Would you be interested in a solution that provides a very low RPO (close to zero data loss) with a RTO in the 4 – 12 hours time frame? If you are interested let us know, we will be happy to put you in touch with one of the MSP’s we have been working with. If you are a MSP and would like to know more or even see a demo of the product let us know as well, we are excited by the opportunities this could bring.
Chris…