THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
rodwelch@pacbell.net


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: May 4, 2007 09:30 AM Friday; Rod Welch

SDS daily interim backups switch from pkzip to DOS xcopy.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Backup Daily Interim Switch to Xcopy Pkzip Difficult to Restore
3...Modify Interim Backup Code to Apply Pkzipc Backup.cmd and 03101
4...Backup.cmd Modify Apply Pkzipc for Daily Backup with SDS Launch
5...03102 Interim Backup Converted from Pkzip to Xcopy
6...Xcopy Interim Backup Converted from Pkzip 03102
7...Xcopy Interim Backup Configured SDS Menu, PKZIP Configured SDS Launch
8...PKZIP Configured SDS Launch, Xcopy Interim Backup Configured SDS Menu


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CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Backup Daily Interim Xcopy Add Menu Choice Microsoft Windows XP DOS

0703 -
0703 -    ..
0704 - Summary/Objective
0705 -
070501 - Follow up ref SDS 4 0000. ref SDS 2 0000.
070502 -
070503 - Developed capability for daily interim backups using the Microsoft XP
070504 - xcopy command.  This greatly simplifies and reduces the time for
070505 - restoring files when needed.  Interim backup with pkzip takes about 15
070506 - seconds, and with xcopy takes about 10 minutes, so decided to leave
070507 - pkzip for SDS launch, and will call xcopy version with the menu
070508 - options for interim backups when needed. e.g., at the end of the day.
070509 - ref SDS 0 FE5F
070510 -
070511 -            [On 070617 experience shows that xcopy interim backup op
070512 -            now runs in about 1 minute, so elminiated dual system and
070513 -            will experiement to see if single xcopy system will be
070514 -            adequate. ref SDS 8 B28O
070516 -             ..
070517 -            [On 070625 removed the operating system, and installed
070518 -            Windows XP again; everything runs better, ref SDS 9 537O,
070519 -            except daily interim backups now take 10 - 15 minutes
070520 -            again. ref SDS 9 S26K
070521 -
070522 -
070524 -  ..
0706 -
0707 -
0708 - Background
0709 -
070901 - Backup Daily Interim Switch to Xcopy Pkzip Difficult to Restore
070902 -
070903 - Follow up ref SDS 4 M65O, ref SDS 2 M65O.
070904 -
070905 - The monthly full file backup system was recently changed to use a hard
070906 - drive and DOS xcopy commands, rather than a dedicated backup software
070907 - program with a tape drive, reported on 070314. ref SDS 6 427J  This
070908 - has worked well. ref SDS 6 3M3F
070910 -  ..
070911 - SDS has a daily interim backup feature that supplements monthly full
070912 - file backups.  These are included in the monthly full file backups,
070913 - reported on 070314, so there is multi-level protection against losing
070914 - data from disk crash, since full file backups are stored on a separate
070915 - disk. ref SDS 6 F49G
070917 -  ..
070918 - On 060304 the SDS daily interim backup system was improved to use a
070919 - new version of pkzip that supports attribute features for managing
070920 - confidentiality. ref SDS 4 0001  More importantly, the version of
070921 - pkzip that was efficient to use did not work well with Microsoft
070922 - Windows XP.  It could not retain internal configuration of time
070923 - commands, and so the operation was backing up everything, everyday,
070924 - which defeated the purpose of "interim" backups.  Backing up
070925 - everything greatly increased the time for doing the work and increased
070926 - the space used on the disk, as reported on 060304. ref SDS 4 PG6I
070927 - The problem was solved at that time on 060304 by switching to a newer
070928 - version of pkzip using different commands.
070930 -  ..
070931 - This system still presents problems of awkward and time consuming
070932 - restore for daily interim backups, also, explained on 060304.
070933 - ref SDS 4 UD6H  Since the need to restore from a daily interim backup
070934 - occurs only very rarely, benefits from faster restore are necessarily
070935 - small to overall system performance, more in the vein of annoyance,
070936 - although when pressed for time, and restoring occurs, often this leads
070937 - to compromising on accuracy, which conflicts with the objectives for
070938 - SDS.  Frustration of limited time and searching for procedures
070939 - presents a significant problem of cognitive overhead, explained in
070940 - NWO. ref OF 1 LH6K
070942 -  ..
070943 - This problem can be solved by changing from pzkip to DOS xcopy
070944 - commands for interim daily backups, as explained in the record on
070945 - 070307. ref SDS 5 F69H
070946 -
070948 -  ..
0710 -
0711 -
0712 - Planning
0713 -
071301 - Design objectives are backing up only new and changed "work" files,
071302 - since everything else can be restored from permanent storage,
071303 - explained on 021012. ref SDS 1 5A41
071305 -  ..
071306 - Use the design developed for interim backup management on 060304.
071307 - ref SDS 4 HZ6N
071308 -
071309 -
071310 -
071311 -
0714 -

SUBJECTS
Xcopy Daily Interim Backup File Menu SDS Schedule SD 04 050406 Calls

1103 -
110401 -  ..
110402 - Modify Interim Backup Code to Apply Pkzipc Backup.cmd and 03101
110403 - Backup.cmd Modify Apply Pkzipc for Daily Backup with SDS Launch
110404 -
110405 - Follow up ref SDS 4 NH3N, ref SDS 3 KL8H.
110406 -
110407 - Interim backups are accomplished by...
110408 -
110409 -                c: sd 01 backup.bat
110411 -  ..
110412 - On 060304 switched to have this batch file call backup.cmd in
110413 - secondary memory. ref SDS 4 Q16K
110415 -  ..
110416 - On 070314 developed complementary function for full file monthly
110417 - backups using conventional DOS file management xcopy commands with a
110418 - related batch command file bk.cmd, that copies files to a new Hitachi
110419 - 500 GB hard drive. ref SDS 6 V34F
110421 -  ..
110422 - Today, will apply processes developed for full file backups to
110423 - perform daily interim backups.
110424 -
110426 -  ..
110427 - 03102  Interim Backup Converted from Pkzip to Xcopy
110428 - Xcopy Interim Backup Converted from Pkzip 03102
110429 -
110430 - Created macro file 03102 to replace 03101.
110431 -
110432 - Saved...
110433 -
110434 -            c: sd 01 backup.cmd
110435 -
110436 - ...as
110438 -             ..
110439 -            c: sd 01 backup.org
110441 -  ..
110442 - Configured backupi.cmd to use Microsoft Windows XP DOS xcopy command,
110443 - ref OF 11 HO9I, rather than pkzipc configured in backup.cmc used for
110444 - daily interim backups to launch SDS each day. ref OF 8 5J6J
110446 -  ..
110447 - Code using xcopy is less much complicated than pkzip.
110449 -  ..
110450 - The xcopy command code, however, takes at least 10 times longer to
110451 - run.  Interim backup with pkzip takes about 20 seconds on c14, and
110452 - maybe 30 minutes on c15.  Using xcopy this is extended to 10 minutes,
110453 - and 15 minutes on c15.
110455 -  ..
110456 - If we run interim backup over night, this might work, but generally
110457 - this much delay for anything cannot be tolerated.
110458 -
110460 -  ..
110461 - Xcopy Interim Backup Configured SDS Menu, PKZIP Configured SDS Launch
110462 - PKZIP Configured SDS Launch, Xcopy Interim Backup Configured SDS Menu
110463 -
110464 -
110465 - Decided to use dual system...
110466 -
110467 -    1.  Pkzip in backup.cmd, and configured with c:\sd\03\03101 called
110468 -        in c:\sd\03\04702, ref OF 4 PC8H
110470 -         ..
110471 -        This will ensure minimum of daily backup with minimal time to
110472 -        launch the program the first time each day.
110474 -         ..
110475 -    2.  Xcopy in backupi.cmd, and configured with c:\sd\03\03102 called
110476 -        in menu for File in SDS records, h:\sd\04\050405, ref OF 5
110477 -        E94G, and in menu file for File in the SDS Schedule,
110478 -        h:\sd\04\050406. ref OF 6 SE4N
110479 -
110480 -            [On 070617 experience shows that xcopy interim backup op
110481 -            now runs in about 1 minute, so elminiated dual system and
110482 -            will experiement to see if single xcopy system will be
110483 -            adequate. ref SDS 8 B28O
110485 -  ..
110486 - This gives the user options to launch xcopy version of interim backup
110487 - as often as needed during the day, or not at all, and it maintains the
110488 - speed of pkzip in launching the SDS program quickly, and ensuring
110489 - there is at least 1 interim backup per day.
110491 -  ..
110492 - An example is the subject index.  Considerations for creating subject
110493 - automatically, which would be beyond the view of the users creates
110494 - potential for causing damage that is not discovered until days, even
110495 - weeks later.  Being able to restore quickly is critical for smooth
110496 - operations.
110497 -
110498 -       [On 070511 developed tools to create subjects automatically, and
110499 -       this is facilitated by ease of restoring files in the event of
110500 -       corrupting files. ref SDS 7 HM61
110501 -
110502 -
110503 -
110504 -
110505 -
110506 -
110507 -
110508 -
1106 -