Hi Thomas I have read somewhere about a US Air Force unit that has a stack of brand-new old machines, with brand new installation media and complete instructions on how to set them up all shrink wrapped and ready for the call to restore something old, which someone set up when they realized the implications of constant technology change.
Other than going to that extreme, perhaps you could take the lawyer's point of view, although that is unpalatable to me and probably will be to you too. Look closely at the legislation, with legal help and determine whether the requirement is only to keep, or to restore. If it is only to keep, then do only that, and make the restore someone else's problem. By the time that needs to happen there may be a PA-RISC emulator running somewhere that can do the job on then-current hardware. As I say unpalatable, but then so are all the alternatives. Regards Steve Steven Harris TSM Admin. Thomas Denier wrote:
I have a strange data retention question somewhat related to TSM. We have an Oracle application running under HP-UX and using TSM for Databases (or whatever the API-based add on is called this week) to provide backup coverage. Over its history the application has migrated from PA-RISC systems to Itanium systems. The application is now subject to regulatory requirements not considered in the original design. The currently favored approach to cobbling up a solution for the requirements involves retaining the TSM API backups for up to 25 years. Recent tests seem to indicate that an Oracle backup from a PA-RISC system cannot be successfully restored to an Itanium system. The restore process reports successful completion, but the Oracle software will not open the restored database. This raises the possibility that we will be asked to keep a PA-RISC system on hand for the next 25 years. I gather from what I have read about computer component service life that a system kept in active service for 25 years would need at least one set of replacement power supplies, several sets of replacement internal disks, and an appalling number of service calls to replace logic circuitry. Would a PA-RISC system last 25 years if it were kept powered down and stored in a controlled climate for most of that time? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3030 - Release Date: 07/27/10 06:34:00
