Question Regarding Backup Policy

  • Hi All,

    If you have mirroring or logshipping setup as a DR solution......Do you need have a backup policy/plan on top of it? What I mean by that is......isn't it DR itself is the backup policy and do you need to have a separate backup policy/plan? Please advise.

    Thanks,

    SueTons.

    Regards,
    SQLisAwe5oMe.

  • SQLCrazyCertified (10/5/2012)


    Hi All,

    If you have mirroring or logshipping setup as a DR solution......Do you need have a backup policy/plan on top of it?

    Yes you do!

    It sounds like you haven't so get one smartish.

    SQLCrazyCertified (10/5/2012)


    What I mean by that is......isn't it DR itself is the backup policy and do you need to have a separate backup policy/plan?

    No, DR is exactly that, a disaster recovery plan. What about all the day to day bits in between, you need to think about this carefully and realise for yourself that the DR is a plan B side show to everything else that goes on 😉

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • Perry Whittle (10/5/2012)


    SQLCrazyCertified (10/5/2012)


    Hi All,

    If you have mirroring or logshipping setup as a DR solution......Do you need have a backup policy/plan on top of it?

    Yes you do!

    It sounds like you haven't so get one smartish.

    SQLCrazyCertified (10/5/2012)


    What I mean by that is......isn't it DR itself is the backup policy and do you need to have a separate backup policy/plan?

    No, DR is exactly that, a disaster recovery plan. What about all the day to day bits in between, you need to think about this carefully and realise for yourself that the DR is a plan B side show to everything else that goes on 😉

    Thanks Perry! Appreciate it.

    SueTons.

    Regards,
    SQLisAwe5oMe.

  • With just a DR plan, how do you restore the DB to 10pm yesterday, right before someone dropped a table?

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • GilaMonster (10/5/2012)


    With just a DR plan, how do you restore the DB to 10pm yesterday, right before someone dropped a table?

    Yup....Got it....I didn't think that way in terms of point in time recovery or daily issues. My brain started to work properly after Perry's comment.

    Thanks again.

    SueTons

    Regards,
    SQLisAwe5oMe.

  • Exactly. Earlier when I just stepped in this profession, I though mirroring or log-shipping will take care of the job. But as you know, mirroring is almost identical to prod database, log-shipping is lagging bu usually 30 minutes or 1 hour

    but...but...but

    these solution will not cover some scenarios like Gail and Perry mentioned.

    What if something got deleted or updated by mistake 2 days back and you got to know about it now...

    What if there is corruption due to hardware in the database

    I often got yelled at for asking more servers and hardware for log-shipping, replication and backups but the bottom line is to give best suggestions and then agree to what your boss approves it as per their budget but make sure you give them best recommendations because worrying about budgets is not our headache.(Not till date for me atleast).

    Chandan

  • Hi Chandan,

    Can you explain more on what should we recommend in normal scenario???

    ************************************
    Every Dog has a Tail !!!!! :-D

  • runal_jagtap (10/9/2012)


    Hi Chandan,

    Can you explain more on what should we recommend in normal scenario???

    I am assusming when you say normal scenario, you mean normal backup policy.

    Backup policy or backup plan is based on the application requirement and RTO(recovery time objective). The objective of the backup policy is to minimize the data loss.

    For example if the application requirement is that they cannot afford any data loss more than hour, then you should suggest a plan as below.

    Weekly Full backup(Sunday night)

    Daily differential except Sundays

    Hourly log backup.

    Hope this helps.

    Regards,

    SueTons.

    Regards,
    SQLisAwe5oMe.

  • runal_jagtap (10/9/2012)


    Hi Chandan,

    Can you explain more on what should we recommend in normal scenario???

    We keep backups available on our network servers for 15 days and then archive them to tapes and keep it there for 30 days. This helps to find a way to get to the older data.

    Mirroring will help you to have a high-availability solution or a point-in time copy of the database.

    If you keep log shipping as a standby, keep it at a latency of around 1 hour or so to be able to bring any data that got deleted accidentally and if you can setup log shipping in stand by modes, it can serve as a host for reporting as well.

    coming back to backups, try to use compression .2008 R2 offers it even in standard edition. You can also use 3rd party tools to backup large database. By large, I mean more than 80 or 100 GBs so that backup and restore times are less. Also, for your organisation be clear on two points always:

    Maximum time frame during which data loss can be tolerable.

    Maximum time frame during which the business can wait before the server can be built again.

    These are some points which I could think as of now. Wait for some experts to pitch in their ideas. Do a lot of studying. Observe what people have done in their environments. What a person does in his company may or may not apply to you but just learn his thought process- what factors were responsible for him to take those decision. This will improve your thought process and then make you prepared to talk to your boss. I am sure he will appreciate your homework.

    Thanks

    Chandan

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