SmartAnalyzer applies the following five key strategies to improve the reliability of the current backup procedures:

• Detect missing backups
• Detect unusable backups and migrated data sets
• Detect non-standard backups
• Detect conflicting backup/migration policies and statuses
• Detect excessive backups and migrations

Detect Missing Backups

Often there are important or even crucial application data sets which are not backed up by HSM, or which are backed up at a wrong point-in-time (PIT). In case of software or hardware failure, the absence of such backups may cause valuable time to be lost and, in extreme cases, even impact your business.

Sample exposures: Active data set not backed up at all; Data set is updated multiple times with no backup in between.

Detect Unusable Backups and Migrated Data Sets

Often existing backup/migrated data sets and volumes contain invalid data which is actually unusable when recover or recall is required.

Sample exposures: Tape backup/migration volume already scratched; Backup performed while data set was updated.

Detect Non-Standard Backups

Jobs often contain steps to back up data in a nonstandard manner, causing resources to be wasted, data to be lost, or valuable time to be lost during recovery.

Sample exposures: Backup for data set taken via general copy program (e.g., IEBGENER); Backup taken bypassing SMS-defined backup policy.

Detect Conflicting Backup/Migration Policies And Statuses

Backup/migration policies defined to the local data management products, or backup/migration statuses maintained in the local data management products, are sometimes not identical, causing data to be lost.

Sample exposures: Differing expiration dates for a backup/migration tape volume in HSM and in the Tape Management system; Improper catalog status of migrated data sets.

Detect Excessive Backups and Migrations

More backups and migrations than actually required are often performed, causing resources to be wasted. Eliminating unnecessary backups/migrations can drastically reduce system resource consumption, backup window time and space management window time.

Sample points: Backup taken even though the data has not changed since the previous backup; Migrating the same data sets in and out frequently (“Migration Trashing”).