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Ensuring Mainframe Batch Applications are Recoverable

Are many - or all - of your application backups taken while the applications execute? Are you sure all of the application-critical data have current backups? Can you prove your applications are recoverable? Support for all of these issues is provided by Mainstar’s Backup and Recovery Manager (BRM) Suite.

When application backups are performed by multiple jobs and processes throughout the application cycles, it is difficult to monitor and manage the processes manually. It is much easier when the application backups are performed at specific points in time by specific jobs but this is not always an option. To ensure that applications are recoverable, you need to perform a few specific tasks for each application:

• Identify all critical datasets
• Backup all critical datasets
• Verify all critical dataset backups exist and are current

Critical dataset identification is a continuous process which is best performed using automation rather than Application Programmer resources. Mainstar’s BRM Automated Selection and Audit Process (ASAP) feature tracks application dataset usage and application changes as they occur. ASAP automatically discovers all datasets referenced and used as application jobs execute and automatically detects new application jobs and application job changes. As a result, at the end of an application cycle ASAP will dynamically build a list of application critical datasets. This list can be built as freeform text or formatted for input to various data movers such as DFSMShsm ABARS, DFSMSdss, FDR, etc. for immediate backup. In any case, the critical dataset list built by ASAP identifies all datasets required by the application and therefore need to be backed up. The next step is to determine if all of the critical datasets have current backups.

Backup tracking and management is also a continuous process which is best performed using automation. Mainstar’s BRM All/Star (AST) feature tracks application and system backups without JCL changes and provides centralized management of the backups whenever and wherever they execute. Once backups are tracked and inventoried AST can be used to identify potentially redundant backups. Removal of redundant backups can provide savings in the form of CPU time and storage media usage reductions. In addition, AST provides an ISPF interface used to locate all available backups for specific data and automatic construction of application, dataset and volume level recovery jobs.

Now that you have the application-critical dataset list and the application dataset backup inventory, you can use automation to determine if all of the critical data have current backups. This reporting is also provided by Mainstar’s BRM All/Star (AST) feature. The AST BackupEnd reporting function compares the application critical dataset list to the backup inventory and identifies datasets without backups, datasets without current backups or verifies all datasets have current backups. This report can be used to satisfy internal audits or provide compliance with other application recoverability requirements.

BRM’s ASAP feature continuously monitors application jobs to dynamically discover datasets critical to the specific applications. The critical dataset list can be used as input to a data mover or for reporting. BRM’s AST feature continuously monitors backup jobs and maintains an inventory of dataset backups. AST reporting functions can be used to compare application critical dataset lists to the backup inventory and identify any missing or non-current backups. Together, the ASAP and AST features, provide automation to ensure your applications are recoverable.

For more information please contact your Mainstar Account representative or email Mainstar at info@mainstar.com.