Spectrum Protect

You can use the Spectrum Protect product to manage backup or restore operations for ON-Bar. Spectrum Protect is a client/server program that provides storage management solutions to customers in a multivendor computer environment.

Spectrum Protect provides an automated, centrally scheduled, policy-managed backup, archive, and space-management facility for file servers and workstations. Informix® database servers are Spectrum Protect clients and Spectrum Protect stores data on separate Spectrum Protect servers.

Spectrum Protect features

Spectrum Protect efficiently manages disk, optical, and tape library resources. Spectrum Protect provides the following functions:
  • Reduces network complexity with interfaces and functions that span network environments.
  • Increases administrator productivity by automating repetitive processes, scheduling unattended processes, and administering Spectrum Protect from anywhere in the network
  • Reduces risk of data loss with scheduled routine backups
  • Optimizes existing storage resources with automated movement of files from client file systems to Spectrum Protect storage
Consider using Spectrum Protect if Informix Storage Manager (ISM) does not support the features you require. For example, Spectrum Protect supports the following additional features:
  • Creating policies to automate storage management and enforce data management goals.
  • Automating circulation of media through the storage management process.
  • Implementing a progressive backup methodology so that files are backed up incrementally to reduce network traffic, while recovery media is consolidated to provide better performance.
  • Using the Network Data Management Protocol to back up and restore file systems stored on a network-attached storage file server.

Spectrum Protect software prerequisites

To back up to an Spectrum Protect server, you must use the Informix Interface for Spectrum Protect, which is part of the Informix database server installation. The interface contains a shared library that enables ON-Bar to communicate with Spectrum Protect.

Spectrum Protect is distributed separately and supported for Informix on specific platforms: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/idsinterop/IDS+with+IBM+Tivoli+Storage+Manager. The minimum required version of the Spectrum Protect API for a supported platform is documented in the Informix machine notes for that platform.