For disaster recovery purposes, you can use the FlashCopy® feature to create a consistent copy of an image before you restart a Global Mirror relationship.
When a consistent relationship is stopped, the relationship enters the consistent_stopped state. While in this state, I/O operations at the primary site continue to run. However, updates are not copied to the secondary site. When the relationship is restarted, the synchronization process for new data is started. During this process, the relationship is in the inconsistent_copying state. The secondary VDisk for the relationship cannot be used until the copy process completes and the relationship returns to the consistent state. When this occurs, start a FlashCopy operation for the secondary VDisk before you restart the relationship. While the relationship is in the copying state, the FlashCopy feature can provide a consistent copy of the data. If the relationship does not reach the synchronized state, you can use the FlashCopy target VDisk at the secondary site.
The SVCTools package that is available on the IBM® alphaWorks® Web site provides an example script that demonstrates how to manage the FlashCopy process. See the copymanager script that is available in the SVCTools package. You can download the SVCTools package from the following Web site: