TSM Client Install Help

I found a good set of How-To's and documentation from IBM while looking for client overviews of installing the TSM client on UNIX platforms. It is an IBM Education Assistant covering installation, migration, and upgrading. It's always been part of the Infocenter but I never noticed it. Duh! There is a nice slide show walk-through covering installation of the TSM client on different platforms. Also some PDF's and even a Silent Install how-to. The main page can be found here and the installation help can be found here.

Data DeDuplication - Been There Done That!

I just got off a pretty good NetApp webcast covering their VTL and FAS solutions. One of the items they discussed was the data deduplication feature with their NAS product. When the IBM rep spoke up they discussed TSM's progressive backup terminology and I find it interesting to contrast TSM's process with the growing segment of disk based storage that is the deduplication feature. The feature really helps save TONS of space with the competing backup tools since they usually follow the FULL+INC model causing them to backup files even when they haven't changed. Here deduplication saves them room by removing the duplicate unchanged files, but this shows how superior TSM is, in that it doesn't require this kind of wasted processing. What would be interesting is to see how much space is saved in redundant OS files, but that is still minor compared to the weekly full process that wastes so much space.

This brings us to the next item, disk based backup. This is definitely going to grow over time, but costs are going to have to come down for it to fully replace tape. The two issues I see with disk only based backups is in DRM/portability and capacity/cost. If you cannot afford to have duplicate sites with the data mirrored then you are left having to use a tape solution for offsite storage. Also with portability disk can be an issue. For example we are migrating some servers from one data center to another and we used the export/import feature. We have also moved TSM tapes from one site to another and rebuilt the TSM environment. To do this with disk is a little more time consuming, you would need the same disk solution and the network capacity to mirror the data (time consuming on slow connection) or have to move the whole hardware solution. Tape in this scenario is a lot easier to deal with. Now when it comes to capacity vs. cost there is a definite difference that will keep many on tape for years to come. Many customers want long term retention of their data, say 30+ days for inactive files and TDP backups (sometimes longer with e-mail and SARBOX data). So what is the cost comparison for that type of disk retention (into the PB) compared to tape. Currently it's no contest and tape wins in the cost vs. capacity realm, but hopefully that can someday change. So if any of you have disk based solutions or VTL solutions chime in I'd like to hear what you have to say and how it's worked for you.

Vulnerabilities Found In TSM Client!!!

(APARs IC52905 and IC53616)

Wow I'm glad I added the news section to the blog I saw this article about a possible exploit with the TSM CAD on client systems. I'd try to explain it but it's best to check the article. It can leave systems open for execution of arbitrary code. Check it out here and here. This exploit goes back as far as the 5.1 client so be aware of the issue even with older clients.

Affected Products:

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Client version 5.1
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Client version 5.2
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Client version 5.3
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Client version 5.4

Solution:

Apply client update package 5.4.1.2 (UK27738 and UK27739) :
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24016585

Apply client update package 5.3.5.3 (UK29248 and UK29249) :
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24016838

Apply client update packages 5.2.5.2 and 5.1.8.1 :
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24016985
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24016586

Original Advisory:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21268775

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TSMExpert Changes

I have made a number of updates to the sites, mostly cosmetic, but I have also removed some of the contributors who have not submitted lately (last 3 months). If you have an item(s) you would like to contribute I will gladly add you to the contributors list. Send me an e-mail letting me know what item you would like to cover or experience you would like to share or get feedback.

Free Tivoli Web Based Training

If you are not aware of it, there is some good FREE web based training from Tivoli here. Also if you cannot afford, or take the time, for the regular class training they do have some decent low cost web based training for TSM and CDP (Continuous Data Protection) listed on the site also. Now it's not as thorough as the classroom training but if you have never used TSM it's a good start.

VSS Question

I was asked about Exchange backups today and after looking at some documentation I remembered that with Exchange 2003 there is a VSS backup option. For the life of me I can't think of anyone who has used it with their Exchange backups. Is there anyone out there who has attempted to use, or is using VSS with their Exchange TDP? I have never trusted it enough to rely on it for my Exchange backups. It has enough problems with the system objects, but since MS has had some time to work out the kinks has anyone been successful with it? Is it worth the hassle?