disaster recovery

gah@...

Sep 11, 2003

Did anyone decide that running OS/390 under Hercules was
legal within the disaster recovery provisions? That is,
assuming one is doing things that would be within those
provisions?

Not having OS/390, or a copy of the license, I have no idea
on that. But considering that it is September 11th, I think
it is worth mentioning.

I don't remember ever reading anything about anyone actually
doing disaster recovery two years ago, though.

-- glen

1:37 pm

Re: disaster recovery

Jay Maynard

Sep 11, 2003

On Thu, Sep 11, 2003 at 06:37:04AM -0700, gah@... wrote:
> Did anyone decide that running OS/390 under Hercules was
> legal within the disaster recovery provisions? That is,
> assuming one is doing things that would be within those
> provisions?

There are no explicit disaster recovery provisions in the IBM licenses.
None, at all, for either testing or actual DR operations. As I understand
the situation, IBM allows DR testing and operations as an unwritten
exception to the license, on the premise that it's simply good business not
to cut off their customers because some fanatic flew an airplane into a
building. (It's worth noting that Microsoft makes no such exception; they
insist on separate licensing for a company's DR site, at the regular
licensing rates, and yet another license for the DR site provider if they
want to do their own testing and preparation.)

I would expect that using Hercules as a part of a legitimate DR plan, in
ways that make sense (like, for example, testing of DR backup/restore
procedures), would be acceptable. I would even expect that using Hercules as
an actual DR solution would be acceptable to IBM, even if it's a crazy idea.
The key is that it needs to be legitimate use, and not just an excuse to
pirate software.

I have not asked IBM this question myself, however. Take this with a large
grain of salt, or, better yet, ask them yourself if this is really important
to your shop. (Not you specifically, Glen; anyone who's thinking about
this.)

> I don't remember ever reading anything about anyone actually
> doing disaster recovery two years ago, though.

I don't know how many disaster declarations there were that day, but ISTR
there were indeed some. I do know of one installation on Wall Street that
kept running by switching their operations to a facility in New Jersey; they
continued to operate the Wall Street datacenter until the power was
disconnected several hours later. (How do I know this? They were using my
former employer's product to do the job.)

1:46 pm

Re: [hercules-390] disaster recovery

Peter D. Ward

Sep 11, 2003

I do not believe you are correct. The IBM licenses I've seen allow
(with some qualifications) the use of a copy when the Designated Machine
is disabled, so at least some licenses so provide explicit permission
for an actual disaster. Testing of the DR copy while the Designated
Machine is operational is seemingly the unaddressed case. (some would
say its an as-yet unpermitted case because its not part of the license)
In the absence of written terms, I agree that the more prudent advice to
a license holder is to seek IBM's interpretation prior to making an
unaddressed use that has two copies of the licensed software running at
the same time. It would be more valuable to learn of IBM's response to
a licencee's question in this regard than any supposition we could make
on the fly. Has anyone out there received a reply from IBM in response
to their seeking IBM's permission to run a copy of IBM licensed software
on Hercules, for DR testing/prep purposes or otherwise? If the answer
to that is 'no one has', then that grain of salt you mention in
suggesting that it may be OK anyway must be a pretty big rock!

A news report on officially declared DR's related to 9/11 can be seen at:

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-272940.html?legacy=cnet

PDW

Jay Maynard wrote:

>On Thu, Sep 11, 2003 at 06:37:04AM -0700, gah@... wrote:
>
>
>>Did anyone decide that running OS/390 under Hercules was
>>legal within the disaster recovery provisions? That is,
>>assuming one is doing things that would be within those
>>provisions?
>>
>>
>
>There are no explicit disaster recovery provisions in the IBM licenses.
>None, at all, for either testing or actual DR operations. As I understand
>the situation, IBM allows DR testing and operations as an unwritten
>exception to the license, on the premise that it's simply good business not
>to cut off their customers because some fanatic flew an airplane into a
>building. (It's worth noting that Microsoft makes no such exception; they
>insist on separate licensing for a company's DR site, at the regular
>licensing rates, and yet another license for the DR site provider if they
>want to do their own testing and preparation.)
>
>I would expect that using Hercules as a part of a legitimate DR plan, in
>ways that make sense (like, for example, testing of DR backup/restore
>procedures), would be acceptable. I would even expect that using Hercules as
>an actual DR solution would be acceptable to IBM, even if it's a crazy idea.
>The key is that it needs to be legitimate use, and not just an excuse to
>pirate software.
>
>I have not asked IBM this question myself, however. Take this with a large
>grain of salt, or, better yet, ask them yourself if this is really important
>to your shop. (Not you specifically, Glen; anyone who's thinking about
>this.)
>
>
>
>>I don't remember ever reading anything about anyone actually
>>doing disaster recovery two years ago, though.
>>
>>
>
>I don't know how many disaster declarations there were that day, but ISTR
>there were indeed some. I do know of one installation on Wall Street that
>kept running by switching their operations to a facility in New Jersey; they
>continued to operate the Wall Street datacenter until the power was
>disconnected several hours later. (How do I know this? They were using my
>former employer's product to do the job.)
>
>
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5:52 pm