Determine which users have similar needs, and organize
these users into groups.
Before you begin
You need some knowledge of the applications, network issues,
and business processes of the
Tivoli® Storage Manager FastBack
for Workstations users.
About this task
Keep in mind that group membership is not static. If you
find that the original groups needs to change, you can move clients
from one group to another.
However, if you move a client to
a group that uses a different storage target, existing backup copies
cannot be restored by the client.
Procedure
- Consider the backup protection needs of the users. Consider the following items:
- What file types need to be continuously protected?
- Are there some files that should be excluded from protection?
(This can save storage and network resources).
- Do some folders need to be vaulted?
- How much space is needed for backup copies on the user's
computer and on a remote storage device?
- What mail programs need to be protected?
- What other files need to be protected on a schedule?
- Will the administration folder be unique for each group, or will
several groups share the same administration folder?
- When files are transferred to remote storage, do they need to
be encrypted or compressed?
- When files are transferred to remote storage, what are appropriate
restrictions on file size and transfer rate?
- As you consider the protection needs, note which users
have the same or similar needs. Users that have similar
needs can be managed as a group.
Example
As an example, assume a small business with the following
teams.
- The engineering team use similar tools for their CAD (Computer-assisted
design) work. All members of this team require protection of their
CAD files and e-mail.
- Some engineers work at the main office. They are the only users
whose workstations are connected to a backup server by a high-speed
data connection.
- Some engineers work at remote locations.
- Members of the sales team create sales presentations and keep
in touch with their customers. They need protection of their presentation
files, customer information spreadsheet files, and e-mail. Occasionally
when traveling they can go for long periods without network access
to the remote backup server. At these times, they can use local storage
on their mobile computers for backups.
- Members of the accounting team need to protect their spreadsheet
files, accounting reports, and e-mail.
- The principal accountant has some unique responsibilities. When
an accounting cycle closes, you want to vault her files associated
with that accounting project.
You decide to organize the end users by the teams listed,
with two exceptions:
- You organize the engineers into a local group and a remote group.
- The principal accountant has unique needs. You could create a
group for this one client, or you could manage it with no group. When
you create a group, the central administration console stores
the configuration settings. With stored configuration settings, you
can generate the configuration file or create a similar configuration
file for a user with slightly different needs. You decide to create
a group for this one user.
Each of these teams has different data-protection needs.
All members within a group have the same data-protection needs, and
can be served by the same data-protection configuration.
What to do next
When you have decided how to organize the users, you are
ready to create the groups.