> A problem  with backups  on the  Listserv here  has just  been brought  to my
> attention. Apparantly, our backup procedure  isn't reliable where Listserv is
> concerned. We're running  Listserv-NJE for VM version 1.8b.  This Listserv is
> currently home to  about 230 different lists, many of  which can be extremely
> active during  peak semester periods.
 
I would be very surprised to find this to be the case. Having
recovered LISTSERV from several assorted disasters over the
years, I have never encountered problems with VM:Backup being
able to restore LISTSERV archive disks reliably.
 
> themselves? I  was just  told by  one of the  people who  runs the  system on
> which we run Listserv that if we were to shut Listserv down to back it up, it
> would be down for  several hours so shutting our Listserv down  to back it up
> isn't an option for us as far as I can see.
 
This also puzzles me, unless the system LISTSERV is running on is
*severely* CPU-overcommitted or I/O-constrained. Even if LISTSERV
has several thousand files queued in the reader, the restart
should take in the 5-10 minute range. If it's really taking
several hours to restart LISTSERV, something else is wrong.