Does anyone shut down for system disk backup any more?

From: Scott Vieth (svieth_at_wi.rr.com)
Date: 11/04/03 

Date: 4 Nov 2003 08:01:29 -0800

Hi:

We've got a "procedure" in place where the computer operators shut
down our main VMS system once a month in the middle of the night to
backup the system disk. They boot the Standalone Environment from
another disk and then backup the real system disk.

Does anyone still follow this procedure? Is there a *need* to shut
down the system in order to get a good, clean backup of the system
disk? Are there files (sysuaf?) that are open while the system is
running and are difficult to backup unless the box is shutdown and
booted from another disk?

The system in question is running OpenVMS 7.3-1 and has an EVA under
it for storage.

Should I just skip the "shutdown" and use the EVA to make a snapshot
of the system disk? Or just backup the system disk with
"/IGNORE=INTERLOCK"?

Thanks in advance for helpful tips and tricks.

-Scott Vieth :^)

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