Help/Systems Streamlines IFS Backups with Robot/SAVE 12

November 1, 2011 Alex Woodie

Help/Systems yesterday unveiled a new version of its popular backup and recovery tool for IBM i. Robot/SAVE 12 introduces more granular backups of the IFS that the company says will save customers time and resources. The new release also brings new restore and reporting features for IFS content.

Robot/SAVE is arguably the most popular third-party backup and recovery and media management utility in the IBM i marketplace. For organizations that seek more capabilities than can be provided by IBM‘s backup utility, BRMS, Robot/SAVE is often at the top of their list.

The capability to perform granular saves of IFS content headlines the new version. Help/Systems says that other backup products often require the organization to back up the entire IFS, which wastes time and resources, because many areas of the IFS doesn’t often change.

With Robot/SAVE 12, Help/Systems gives users the capability to create groups of IFS directories that brings more fine-grained control over which areas of the IFS need to be backed up on a regular basis, and which do not. For example, the new IFS grouping feature will allow users to back up only the parts of the IFS that store critical Domino or SAP data.

Version 12 also brings new restore capabilities to the IFS with its new Restore IFS Group (RBSRSTIGRP) command. Users can use the utility’s object archive to select individual IFS directories and files to restore, the company says.

New IFS reporting features have also been added to the product. The new IFS Group Report lists all the IFS Groups defined on the IBM i system or partition, summarizes their contents, and displays relevant backup information, the company says, while the new IFS Group Archive Report allows a user to specify an IFS Group and a date range, and lists all IFS objects that were backed up during that time.

Robot/SAVE is one component of Help/Systems Robot suite of systems management software. The software integrates directly with several other Robot products, including Robot/SCHEDULE, Robot/ALERT, and Robot/REPORTS. The integration enables organizations to set up their backups to run regularly, without human intervention, and with the knowledge that the system will be able to adapt to minor problems on its own, and notify administrators of major events that require human intervention.

Pricing has changed since the last new version of Robot/SAVE was unveiled, when licenses for the software cost between $7,300 and $67,500. The price has come down a bit, according to Help/Systems, but the company elected not to provide more details. For more information, see the vendor’s website at www.helpsystems.com.