Checklist: Configuration and Setup 

Purpose

You need to check that certain aspects of the configuration and setup are correct before starting productive operations.

Process Flow

Make sure you check the following aspects of configuration and setup:

You should have configured these in the installation phase. For more information, see Installation on Windows NT – Informix Database or R/3 Installation on UNIX – Informix Database.

Before you start using your database productively, you must decide on how you intend to perform archive, backup and restore, and then make the necessary preparations. If you are not familiar with data recovery with Informix, see Getting Started with Data Recovery.

Check the following items for data recovery:

There are a number of tools offered by Informix for data recovery. Refer to Comparison of ON-Bar, ON-Archive, and ontape for Data Recovery.

With ontape , your choices are limited. However, you need to carefully consider your approach with ON-Archive , because the approach determines the configuration. For archive and database backup, refer to:

Approach to Database Backup (ON-Bar)

Approach to Archive (ON-Archive).

Approach to Archive (ontape)

For logical-log backup, refer to:

Approach to Logical-Log Backup (ON-Bar)

Approach to Logical-Log Backup (ON-Archive)

Approach to Logical-Log Backup (ontape)

You must configure your data recovery tool before starting to do productive archives and backups. Refer to ON-Bar for Data Recovery, Configuration of ON-Archive, and Configuring ontape. If you are using ON-Archive , you need to define volumes and volumes sets, and you might want to use the supplied scripts for configuration tasks (see below).

SAP strongly recommends that you use the supplied scripts (only available with ON-Archive ). The scripts are mainly used for configuration tasks. Refer to SAP Scripts for ON-Archive.

ON-Archive requires volumes and volume sets (also known as "vsets"). You must define these before starting productive operation (the supplied script arcprep can help you with this). Refer to Setting Up Volume Sets and Volumes for ON-Archive with SAP Scripts.

You can schedule archives and logical-log backups with ON-Archive using the DBA Planning Calendar in CCMS. Logical-log backups can be triggered when the logical log reaches a pre-defined fill level for extra safety. Refer to Automatic Logical-Log Backup (ON-Archive).

Special considerations apply for parallel archives or database backups, which you can perform with ON-Archive or ON-Bar to speed up the archive or database backup. Where relevant in the documentation, these are described.

Recovery reports are also available to help you recover the database in the event of failure. However, you must set up the reports correctly before the failure occurs. The reports are only available if you use ON-Archive . Refer to Recovery Report with SAPDBA.

You should ensure that the database has been correctly sized for the expected volume of data and the dbspaces have been created with enough spare space. For more information about installation, see R/3 Installation on Windows NT – Informix Database or R/3 Installation on UNIX – Informix Database.

If you intend to use SAPDBA to help administer your database, you need to install it correctly. Refer to SAPDBA Prerequisites.

Result

Your database is configured optimally. Therefore, problems during subsequent productive operation are minimized.