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“If disaster strikes, how do I recover my Robot software?”
“When I’m at our hot site testing the disaster recovery plans for our business applications, how do I activate the Robot products?”
Our Technical Support Consultants frequently field questions similar to these. First, let’s look at some general considerations that apply to all of the Robot products. Then, we’ll look at the special considerations that apply to a few of the products.
General Considerations
You're licensed to use the Robot products based on the model of your IBM i system and its unique serial number (you have a permanent security/license code) or by a temporary date (you’re using a temporary security/license code). You must call us for a temporary code prior to using your Robot software on your disaster recovery systems.
If you're at your hot site because of a disaster, call 952-933-0609 at any time. A Technical Consultant will give you a temporary code. This line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You should be aware, however, that outside of our regular office hours (and on holidays), it might take us up to an hour to get back to you.
Regular office hours are:
7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Thursday
7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time on Fridays
Backups also are something you should consider for all the products. See “Backing Up the Robot Products” for a description of how to back up all the Robot products. You should back up each of the Robot products. All products require your input to run properly on your system, so having the backup information available at your hot site will save you time.
Most people at a hot site restore from a full system backup, including network attributes. The hot site system is given the name of the host at the regular site. If you're at a hot site and restore the product user libraries for Robot Autotune, Robot Console, Robot Reports, Robot Save, Robot Schedule, or Robot UPS to a host system with a different name, you must run the command RBTSWAPSYS against these products (provided Robot Schedule is at R11M11 or higher). Otherwise, run the command RSLCHGSYSN against the products. These commands change the internal fields that contain the old system name to the new system name.
Product-Specific Considerations
Robot Save
Before disaster strikes, make sure you review Robot Save's Audit Report every day. It takes only a few seconds to review the report for backup and recovery errors—critical information to know at your hot site.
When you go to your hot site, take the necessary documentation. We recommend that you bring the Robot Save User Guide and the IBM Backup and Recovery Guide. The IBM Backup and Recovery Guide tells you how to restore your IBM Licensed Internal Code (microcode) and operating system.
After you've loaded the IBM Licensed Internal Code and the operating system, use the Robot Save Guided Restoration Report and the Robot Save User Guide to recover your user data. Robot Save creates this report automatically after every backup and it details step-by-step instructions. Print and store this report with your backup media every day.
In addition, you should be aware that Robot Save places a copy of its database at the end of each complete set of backup tapes. You’ll find information about how Robot Save is set up and how to restore your system in the RBSDTALIB library.
Robot Autotune
We recommend that you keep a “clean” copy of Robot Autotune available and perform a new install at the hot site. In general, the size of the system and its memory setup will be different from the system in your regular data center. As a result, it is easier to do a new install.
Robot Network
If you have two or more systems and use Robot Network in your data center, and you'll use multiple systems at the hot site, bring a copy of Robot Network. Depending on your circumstances, you may want to delete and reinstall the product to reflect the differences in the hot site and your regular site.
Summary
Our Technical Support team is here to help you through all technical issues. Your Robot product maintenance contracts cover you in case disaster strikes, so don’t hesitate to call.
