Tivoli Storage Manager v6.2 is coming in March

Tivoli Storage Manager v6.2

Finally! MySQL backups with TSM

Computer Technology Review has an announcement from Zmanda stating they are releasing a TSM backup agent (Zmanda Recovery Manager for MySQL). The ZRM-TSM agent is available immediately. You can read the full article here. Those of you who have been asking for a TDP for MySQL, the wait is over.

Update: Weird Volhist Records (Part Two)

IBM did get back to me about my library manager/library client volume history devclass issue and I found it interesting how development handled it. Initially IBM support said the following:

Our server development has confirmed with our design, it is possible that the remote volhist entry can be different. Development believe this is their design. However, the existing document did not document this clearly. They agreed to open a Doc. APAR to properly document this for command query volhist.

In other words they felt that no action was needed other than to document that this possible occurrence within the TSM Admin and Reference guides. So I asked it be escalated since it is definitely a flaw and finally heard back from support and was told the following:

They agree what you observed or reported in this case is incorrect even though it does not cause any function lose. They have agreed to take the APAR IC65048 as a defect ( instead of Document ). However, this APAR would take a big code change to "fix" this issue and after first evaluate, they will not be able to deliver a fix in the service stream. They request to open a DCR ( design change record ) so development can make this change on a release boundary so that there is sufficient testing for a code change.

So it looks like IBM will eventually fix this. Thanks to IBM support for helping me get development to at least go beyond the Doc. APAR.

Data Loss Top 10

Ontrack, which handles data recovery, compiled a list of the strangest reasons data was lost. You can read their list here. I remember when I was teaching TSM some students had some of the craziest stories for data loss (many were disgruntled employee stories).

One story I heard from a student occurred when a manager was stupid enough to fire an employee, but require him to work the rest of the week if he wanted his pay. So the employee worked the rest of the week and on his way out (unescorted) he went into the server room and proceeded to urinate into the mainframe. Supposedly he shorted out the mainframe and caused all kind of havoc. If you have a story you'd like to share feel free to leave it in the comments section.

Update: TSM 2009 Symposium

I received a response to my query on the cost of the 2009 TSM Symposium presentations USB stick. The following will provide you with the needed purchase information:

The USB-stick with all symposium presentations and materials in PDF-format is
available for 50 EUR plus shipping costs (Germany 3 EUR, European Union 5 EUR,
US 8 EUR).

Payment is accepted only by Paypal. Please transfer the respective amount by
using the Paypal service (http://www.paypal.com/) to
nc-kallecl(at)netcologne.de. Add your post address as optional message for the
payment or mail it to tsm2009@uni-koeln.de.

Pay Pal will make the necessary conversion from dollars to euros and expect to pay around $86 with current conversion rates. If you'd like to check the conversion rates try Google's currency conversion tool.

TSM 2009 Symposium

I went looking for the presentations given at the 2009 TSM Symposium and discovered that the presentations will be provided on a USB stick for around 50 Euro plus shipping. Previously the presentations had been posted for the community to access, but it looks like we wont have that opportunity going forward. I didn't see anything for U.S. cost and will post an update when I find out if/how we can purchase the symposium presentations. I would recommend you talk your company into purchasing it since I have always found the presentations to be very informative, and with 6.1 out it might help you with any planned migration/upgrade.

Tivoli User Community

I had the opportunity this week to attend the Arizona Tivoli User Group and gain some valuable information on TSM Fastback, TSM 6.1, and Tivoli Storage Virtualization Management. They covered these products in the morning session and had a hands on demonstration of TSM 6.1 Admin interface and reporting features in the afternoon. What was even better was they offered a free certification exam so I got caught up on my TSM certification. Not every group will be able to afford free certifications, but it is definitely worth your time to check out your local or regional group for contacts and information. To find the Tivoli User Group in your are check out the Global Tivoli User Community website. If there is no group within your area you can still join the global group and attend webinars and participate in online activities.