Epoch EpochMigration Manager

Epoch was a bit easier than OpenVision to install and supported all of the devices we used. Installation and basic configuration are automated by a script that asks a few questions and then makes many modifications. In addition to the easy scripts, Epoch offers excellent documentation of almost everything that it configures, as well as scenarios to help troubleshoot problems.

Unlike most of the other packages, Epoch's script lets the user intervene at any point along the way. For example, before adding lines to the /etc/services file, the script says what the changes are and then asks whether it should do them for you. For your own piece of mind, it can make the changes and then fire up vi so you can view and tweak the modifications.

Setting up basic HSM criteria is done through a series of command-line utilities. Although not completely cryptic, a graphical user interface (GUI) front end would make the task a bit easier. Adding the restage to tertiary media was not easy, for instance. This is not taken care of by a daemon like first-stage migration is. To automate the restage, we had to add it as a cron job.

Finally, like OpenVision, Epoch makes good use of its own backup solution. By sup plying both HSM and backup, the problems usually associated with them aren't an issue.