Backup Requirements

Client Access to an SPD Server Domain

The client that performs the backup does not have to execute on the same machine as the SPD Server. However, the client must be able to access the physical path of the SPD Server domain that is being backed up. Access by the client to the physical path of the domain can be direct or through a network connection.

LIBNAME Created with BACKUP= Option

Before a table is eligible for backup, you must create the SPD Server LIBNAME domain using the BACKUP=YES option in the parameter file. Here are two example LIBNAME entries from a data's server's LIBNAME parameter file, libnames.parm, to explain how domains are processed with and without the BACKUP= option:

Example Libnames.parm Statements

No Backup Statement and Can Backup Statement Examples

LIBNAME=nobackup pathname=/usr/foo/test;

LIBNAME=canbackup pathname=/usr/foo/test BACKUP=YES;

The entry for the LIBNAME domain called nobackup creates tables in the directory /usr/foo/test, but no BACKUP= option is specified. For this reason, tables created through this domain definition are ineligible for backup. In contrast, the entry for the LIBNAME domain canbackup, which also creates tables in the directory /usr/foo/test, has the BACKUP=YES option. As a consequence, tables created through this domain are eligible for backup.

When spdsbkup performs a backup, it checks every table in /usr/foo/test. However, based on our example parameter file entries, spdsbkup backs up only the eligible tables in canbackup. On the client connections created using pass-through or LIBNAME, the BACKUP=NO LIBNAME option can be used to override. Tables that are created when either of these is in effect will be able to be backed up.

Incremental Backups Requires a Prior Full Backup

Before you can do an incremental backup of an SPD Server table, you must do a full backup of the table. You have two alternatives for the full backup:

Use the system's full backup utility, and then inform spdsbkup of the system's last full backup date.
Use spdsbkup to perform a full backup, if none has been done before.

After a full backup has been performed for an SPD Server table, you can then proceed with an incremental backup strategy. The first incremental backup saves all table changes that were performed after the last full backup date. Each successive incremental backup saves the changes that were made after the previous incremental backup.