Some security information is stored with the objects (files, libraries, directories, etc.) themselves.  The objects' *PUBLIC authority, owner and owner's authority, primary group and the primary group's authority, the objects' auditing value as well as the name of the authorization list securing the objects.   When you save your files or run the SAV command or save the non-system libraries, this is the security information that is backed up.

Saving your Security Data

If you are only saving your objects, then you are missing several critical pieces of security data.  Running the Save Security Data (SAVSECDTA) or Save the System (SAVSYS) command saves the rest of the security information - that is, all user profiles, private authorities and authorization lists.

How Often Should I Save my Security Data?

How often you perform a SAVSECDTA really depends on how often user profiles are created, changed and removed from the system.  You must also consider how often private authorities are granted or removed from individual objects and authorization lists and how often authorization lists are created or deleted.  For example, if you save your security data at the beginning of the month, and you have to recover your system at the end of the month; then how many user profiles will you have to re-create?  In addition, consider how many user profiles you've removed from the system due to terminations or inactivity that are going to re-appear once you restore the user profiles during the recovery process.  After looking through your organization's security activity, you may determine that you need to save your security data more often.

Finally, if you are in the process of changing your security configuration - that is, altering the *PUBLIC authority of objects, securing files with authorization lists, removing users' excess special authorities, etc.; then you are going to want to save your security data more often, so that you don't lose all of those important configuration updates.