TurboSTORE/iX's 7x24 True-Online Backup achieves logical data integrity within the backup by quiescing databases and completing the backup while the databases are quiesced, therefore it can ensure logical integrity for only a small subset of environments:

• Applications accessing IMAGE databases that use DBBEGIN/DBEND or DBXBEGIN/DBXEND
• Applications accessing only AllBase databases

For all other applications, logical integrity cannot be enforced. In those cases, TurboSTORE must be told to prompt for an operator reply when all offending users have been logged off or otherwise idled outside of a logical transaction. TurboSTORE provides no method for determining who these users are and what they are doing, nor where transaction breaks occur for IMAGE applications that do not specifically define logical transactions. This means that in most environments some if not all users will still need to log off or close files for backup synchronization and that an unattended TurboSTORE 7x24 backup is not feasible.

Logical integrity concerns
Since TurboSTORE's 7x24 backup capability can ensure logical integrity only for database applications that define logical transactions, the important questions are: do all your applications access only IMAGE and AllBase and do they define logical transactions? If your IMAGE-based applications do not define logical transactions using DBBEGIN/DBEND or DBXBEGIN/DBXEND— and most do not—each physical transaction is considered to be a logical transaction. Quiescing a database based on physical transactions will more than likely corrupt its logical integrity.

Differences in approach
BACKUP+/iX's Zero-Downtime Backup capability, by contrast, has been written for all applications and all users. Like TurboSTORE 7x24, it will recognize logical transactions if they have been defined. But, unlike TurboSTORE 7x24, it will also handle cases in which logical transactions are not defined as well as applications that access files other than databases. The difference between methods of avoiding downtime for online backup are fundamental: TurboSTORE quiesces files and BACKUP+/iX quiesces users (when they are at a safe "wait state," such as a terminal read). This means that TurboSTORE can only quiesce files that cooperate (limited to IMAGE and AllBase databases) and that only applications which define logical transactions will not compromise data integrity.

Summary
The following points summarize the deficits of TurboSTORE 7X24 True-Online backup:

It provides an effective solution for only a subset of sites, namely those which use AllBase or IMAGE with DBBEGIN/DBEND. In most other environments, users will still need to exit files or log off; otherwise, data integrity could be compromised.

It does not permit an unattended online backup in most environments.