Technical data

Recovering from a System Panic
9-4
Minimizing the Effects of a Panic
Performing timely and adequate backups and implementing a good restore process
will minimize the effects of a panic. The worst scenario for recovery is reinstalling
HP-UX and restoring any lost files. Therefore, a meaningful backup would mini-
mize the adverse affects of even the worst panic.
How frequently you backup your system and the type of backup you perform
depends on how much and what type of data you can afford to lose. You need to
consider the following topics when selecting a backup and restore process:
• Schedules
• Media
• Commands
The three topics are not independent and you need to understand how each will af-
fect your backup and restore process prior to implementing a process.
Schedule
You need to decide how often various files need to be updated. Some backups are
event driven; you update when something significant occurs, others are time driven;
you update working directories once a week or some other fixed time interval.
Media
You need to understand the size of the files on your system that you intend to
backup, since the size of the backup media must exceed the size of the file system
you wish to back up.
You should also understand the time factors associated with the backup media that
you select. For example, flexible disks are slower than optical disks. However, if
your system is quite small, using an optical disk may not make sense.