To minimize downtime in the event of failure, you must make sure that you can quickly restore database data. Some recovery operations are done automatically by DB2 for z/OS without any outside intervention, such as recovering the database to a consistent state before an operating system or database failure. In this case, automatic recovery happens at the next start of DB2 for z/OS.

DB2 provides the RESTORE SYSTEM and RECOVER utilities for data recovery. This lets you recover complete DB2 subsystems or data sharing groups and single DB2 objects, such as tablespaces, indexes, partitions, individual datasets, and individual pages. The recommended approaches for a DB2 backup and recovery solution are described in the SAP DBA Guide: DB2 for z/OS. Hands-on information is provided in Casebook: DB2 backup, recovery and cloning for SAP environments in SDN.