No, backups are billed separately. The charge is based on the amount stored on tape. For current rates, see the Data Backups and Archives service page.
Unix Managed Servers use Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM).
We will work with you and our applications engineers to configure the backup set and schedule, and will do our best to steer you in the right direction. Please note, however, that Unix Engineering is not equipped to provide ongoing user support for the TSM client; once we get you underway, it will be best for you to familiarize yourself with the TSM backup and restore client documentation for details about its use.
Backups times are automated and spread across the day to reduce load on the backup servers. If you need backups to occur at a specific time that can be arranged by request.
No, we do not support snapshots at this time.
The speed of restores depends on many factors, including how much data you're retrieving, and whether it was recently backed up or is stale. Very old data may need to be assembled from several different offline tapes, so there can be long delays while TSM roots around in its attic. For recently changed files, though, the client usually finishes a restore in a minute or two.
Some customers encrypt critical files using gpg, which is what we recommend if you only need a few things protected. This gives you complete control over the keys and is a common, well-documented, user-driven tool.
Alternatively, we can work with you to tell the TSM backup client to encrypt some or all data before it gets sent to the server each night. This method has the advantage that it's largely transparent once it's set up, but it does require some TSM-savvy thinking, and also careful attention to TSM-specific key management. We can help with inserting the required scheduling directives once you know what you want.
For a handful of files (such as database dumps), we recommend the gpg method. For large numbers of files or entire filesystems, TSM's integrated encryption might be advantageous.
If keys are lost or damaged, your backed up data is effectively gone forever, so it's important to ensure that your comfort level is high with whichever method you choose. Unix Engineering cannot help you to recover encrypted data for which you have lost the decryption key.
IBM's backup-restore client documentation contains the information you need (see page 290).
Every account can restore only its own files, except the superuser (root), which can restore anything. It is possible to grant to another user, or even another computer, the right to restore your files; see the TSM client documentation for more information.
Elective backups and restores can both be user-driven. However, root does all the regularly scheduled backups. It can also do the restores, but individual accounts can also invoke dsmc and restore files they own.
You can monitor the contents of /var/log/dsmsched.log. In addition, after a particular filesystem has been backed up successfully at least once, TSM will complain if it hasn't seen that filesystem for over a day. We get those notices. If we do, we will let you know and work with you to resolve the problem.