Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!sharkey!cfctech!fmeed1!hpuinda!hpfcse!hpuecoa!speclab!rclark
From: rclark@speclab.bgp-usgs.gov (Roger N. Clark)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: How to back up HP-UX non-file portion
Message-ID: <210036@speclab.bgp-usgs.gov>
Date: 5 Oct 89 22:57:10 GMT
References: <330023@vantage.UUCP>
Organization: U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Geophysics, Denver
Lines: 24

I suggest your option 1: 

> 1. make (a few) image copies of the disk (we have the 132Mb 7914 with internal
>    cartridge tape unit and one controller, so I can press the lever and get
>    a disk image onto tape -- unfortunately, as I understand it, the copy is
>    made without error checking)

I have never had a problem with a tape once it is properly written.
I suggest making 3 disk images of the system disk, and putting them
in three different localities (like take one home, mail a second to
your mother, etc).

We had a catastrophe on our 540 recently.  I has changing things around
(changing system disks), made a disk image backup, something happened
(still not sure what) and tried to restore.  Unfortunately, the disk
image backup I just made never was written properly (it apparently
failed after a few blocks, but I had left the room and came back 2 hours
later and didn't notice an error--the tape was mostly blank).  No real
problem, I just went to the previous backup image, restored it, and then
had to update and redo what I thought I had completed.  The only
really annoying thing is those cartridge tapes are so slow.

So make a couple of disk image backups of the system disk every 6
months or so (more often if you do a lot of changes to your sys disk).