Can anyone tell me if there is a difference between the two following scenarios:

1) From Enterprise manager I create a backup of my production database and later retore from the backup

2) I perform an expsysdb -s on my productline into a flat file and then restore from that using an impexp -a .

Are they just as good? Does one miss something another one covers? Because the first one is a LOT faster especially with a large DB and I would just as soon rather switch.

Thanks

Using the internal database tools will ALWAYS be faster than working with data through the Laswon interface, as the Lawson tools must jump through certain hoops in order to work with a number of disparate database systems.

However, one thing that an expsysdb dump gives you that your RDBMS tools don't is the ability to restore that data to a different RBBMS system.

Most admins will agree that in interest of expediency, you should use your native RDBMS tools for backup/recovery.

Great answer, agreed!

These are correct if you are just talking about backing up the data. If you are talking about backing up the full database (table structure, etc.) then there is a difference.

The SQL Server backup will backup data, tables, database users, etc and will restore all of these components.

Using expsysdb will only backup the data. You can then use sysdump/sysload to backup/restore the database table definitions and would have to use blddbdict/dbreorg, etc to actually recreate the database structure if needed prior to running the impexp.

All in all, it tends to be easier, faster, and more thorough in my opinion to backup and restore using the native SQL Server tools. Regardless of the method chosen though you also have to backup GEN, which up through 8.0.3 resides in lafile and cannot be backed up with the SQL Server tools.

Agreed with all posts but one recommendation. If you choose to backup or export data with expsysdb, I recommend using the -B option (undocumented,) which causes a binary export and tends to be quicker!

I tried the -B option and got errors when doing impexp to load it into another PL.
How do you use the Binary dump later to reload?