For transaction logging to be effective, you must make periodic backups. A three generation rotating backup works well; you always have at least the two most recent backups available.
Your backup procedure must perform (at least) the following steps.
1. Backup all logged RMSfiles.
1. Backup the transaction log files. You may want to do this on a separate file or tape, since you won't usually want to restore the transaction log file at the same time you restore the RMSfiles.
1. Check that the backups you just made are readable before proceeding.
1. Clear the transaction log files with the makelog (C-3) program. Failure to clear a log file after backups makes the log file useless.