After all your planning and development is complete, it is time to implement.
| Schedule | Use scheduling software to set up your backups. This can be SQL Agent or a third-party tool.
Your backups, then, can run unattended on a set schedule. One nice thing with SQL Server is that
whenever a backup runs, the msdb database stores the information in system tables. This is for both
scheduled jobs as well as jobs that are run interactively.
|
|
| Safe Guard | Again, make sure your backup files are secure, both on your network and on your tapes. A full
backup is a complete set of all the data in your database, so anyone that gets a hold of one will
be able to access all of your data.
|
|
| Periodic Testing | Besides the testing above, make sure you run periodic restore tests. It is better to know your
process is working when it is not a critical time versus finding out there is a problem when you
are in an emergency state.
|
|
| Turn Over Procedures | Lastly, document what you have done and make sure the documentation is readily available. Make
sure the people responsible for monitoring the backups are aware of what was done and why things
were set up this way.
|
You have many things to think
Requires Free Membership to View
about when putting together your backup process. Yes, it could be
as simple as running the backup command every day, but the more thought and planning you put into
your approach, the more you will benefit when the time comes to do an emergency restore. Whether
you're starting out new or reworking an old process, the process you develop from these tips will
help solidify your backup plan.
How to properly back up a SQL Server
Home: Introduction
Step 1: Planning your SQL Server backup
Step 2: Developing and testing your SQL Server backup
Step 3: Implementing your SQL Server backup
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Greg Robidoux is the president and founder of Edgewood Solutions LLC, a technology services company
delivering professional services and product solutions for Microsoft SQL Server. He has authored
numerous articles and has delivered presentations at regional SQL Server users' groups and national
SQL Server events.
This was first published in October 2005
Join the conversationComment
Share
Comments
Results
Contribute to the conversation