Back in April Steve Jones wrote up a disaster at work. Andy had one this week and wrote up the story too. Copy cat! Pretty soon everyone will be having a disaster and writing a story about it! Give these guys credit for letting you see what happens when it ALL goes bad. Disaster recovery is hard to sell and hard to do, reading the article might give you an idea that will save you some time and/or data one day.   Read more...

These scripts were generated to standardize our SQL backup environments, and to remove backups from Maintenance Plans.  Read more...

Script to backup 2000/2005 databases.  Read more...

It creates the script for restoring your database with all the backups (full, differential and transaction log) needed.  Read more...

The Store Procedure can be use for generating Differential Backup datewise in SQL Server 2000.  Read more...

These scripts were generated to standardize our SQL backup environments, and to remove backups from Maintenance Plans.  Read more...

It creates the script for restoring your database with all the backups (full, differential and transaction log) needed.  Read more...

Script to backup 2000/2005 databases.  Read more...

Backups are the foundation of any well run database server, or even any computer system. Numerous articles have been written about SQL Server backups and new author Paulo Luis brings us a new twist on building automated backups using devices.   Read more...

You have many SQL Servers to administer and you just want to know when the last backup was taken for each database on each instance. This stored procedure will help.  Read more...

DTS is an incredible package for moving data in the SQL Server world. One feature that is missing, however, is the ability to send files using FTP to a remote server. This article looks at a technique for sending files via FTP.   Read more...

This is one of the very useful features in SQL Server 2000 and if you ever have the need to perform this actiom, you will appreciate the knowledge in this article.   Read more...

One of the lesser used features of SQL Server 2000, but the capability to restore your databases to a particular point in time can be a valuable skill. Kathi Kellenberger takes a moment to explain how this feature works and how you can use it in your environment.   Read more...

SQL Server has a rock solid backup routine that works every time. However the schemes used to implement backups with maintenance plans, Enterprise Manager, etc., are not a smooth or as flexible as what most people require. Author Eli Lieba brings us his strategy and code for ensuring that each database is backed up how he needs it to be, whether a full or differential backup.   Read more...

SQL Server has a great backup and recovery architecture, but you have to know how to properly configure and use the server to ensure that you will not be seeking new employment anytime soon. A few of the Sonasoft team have written this short piece on strategies for setting up your backup jobs to ensure recovery in the event of a disaster. Welcome new authors Bilal Ahmed, Kiran Kumar, and Vas Srinivasan.   Read more...

Chris (one of our regulars!) installed Log Explorer and took it for a test drive. Written up in our standard review format this will give you a very quick overview of what the product does.   Read more...

New Author! Written as a rant, this article covers a couple basic issues that STILL tend to get overlooked in a lot of places. It's run to rant sometimes but we plan to maintain our focus and continue to keep these a small percentage of our content. Let us know what you think.   Read more...

The second article in a 3 part series that presents another VBScript class file that creates a class that can be used to display the backup information from a SQL server's maintanence plans.   Read more...

This articles makes the case for using SQL LiteSpeed over other backup solutions and presents some notes about why the DBA should manage backups rather than offloading to network administration.   Read more...

A monster book at 980 pages, it's written in 'how-to' format and has a ton of good material. Andy gave it the once over for us and reports back - see what he thinks!   Read more...