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Recovery Management
Recovery Management
MAC-PAC OPEN’s Recovery Management Facility records all updates to system files, provides rollback and roll forward recovery capabilities in the event of a system failure, and documents all file updates performed during recovery processing. The Recovery Management Facility is designed to minimize interruption of normal business operations in the event of a hardware or software failure. Examples of such failures include interruption of or inadequate power from suppliers, breakdown of telephone communications, or problems requiring maintenance to system devices or to software. In many cases, only certain transactions may need to be recovered. In the event of a serious failure, activity may need to be restored completely. Proper backup and manual control, along with safeguards and recovery programs included in the system, ensure the integrity of system files with a minimal loss of processing time.
Recovery Management is executed through a series of menus. System objects and custom application programs are used to record file updates made during daily operations, and to perform recovery processing. The journaling and commitment control facilities of the operating system are used as the core of this facility. Recovery Management programs provide added functionality and improved performance in areas where these facilities are limited. The Recovery Management Facility can be used to support other applications, and must be included in the overall recovery/restart strategy at each software installation site.
MAC-PAC includes the files and programs that make up the Recovery Management Facility. In other words, Recovery Management operates independently of the modules with which it is released. This feature protects against the loss of valuable business information in the event of a hardware or software failure.
Recovery Management Features
The Recovery Management Facility provides a number of recovery options and processing features, which help to ensure the integrity and reliability of all applications:
Rollback Recovery. Rollback is used to restore application files after a system failure. Rollback recovery processing provides the ability to remove transactions that were partially completed, or in-flight, at the time of the system failure. This eliminates having to restore files from the latest backup and re-apply all updates that preceded the system failure.
Roll Forward Recovery. Roll forward is used to restore application files when a file is damaged or lost. Roll forward processing uses a backed-up copy of a file to automatically re-apply updates made to the file up to the time of the system failure. This eliminates having to rekey file updates after the loss of a file.
Audit Trail Capabilities. Journaling captures all updates made to critical application files. Thus, an audit trail is maintained outside the system that cannot be circumvented easily. This can be used to review security procedures at an installation.
Debugging Tool. When an error because of a custom enhancement to the system is suspected, the journal provides information about the error, as well as the name of the application causing the error. This may provide an expedient resolution to the problem.
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