Can mirroring be set up with a copy only backup?

  • I have to initialize mirroring on a large database.

    Due to red tape/policies etc, if i take an offschedule full backup, i have to jump through hoops to get ensure it gets stored wtih the rest of the backups.

    Becuase of this a copy only full backup woudl be preferable.

    Can mirroring be initialized with a copy only backup? I would expirement but copying the database takes 2+ hours so i dont have the time available for a failed test.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks.

  • You don't need an off-schedule backup. Use your latest normal, scheduled backup and all log backups since that full backup.

    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
  • the latest scheduled backup is 6 days old meaning there will be a LOT of log files to restore. Coupled with the further red tape to get access to the backups, it would be quicker to just take a new backup.

    If i have to il log the ticket to get acces to the backups, but id rather avoid it.

  • you could take a diff and use the 6 day old full with logs

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

  • Can mirroring be initialized with a copy only backup?

    From MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191495.aspx)

    Restoring a copy-only full backup is the same as restoring any other full backup.

    Basically you use it so that you don't break the backup chain so go for it!

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    Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall.
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  • Abu Dina (6/20/2013)


    Basically you use it so that you don't break the backup chain so go for it!

    You mean 'don't reset the differential base', because that's all that a normal full backup does.

    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
  • Ok, I got it sorted, escalation to management made a lot of stuff easier!

    Regarding the question "can you initialize mirroring with a copy only backup", there has been no answer in the post yet to say if this is possible. It would be good to know, for future use.

    Thanks!

    Edit: Didn't see the post above this one, thanks for the help folks.

  • GilaMonster (6/20/2013)


    Abu Dina (6/20/2013)


    Basically you use it so that you don't break the backup chain so go for it!

    You mean 'don't reset the differential base', because that's all that a normal full backup does.

    Yes... Sorry I should have been clearer. (I blame Mr Fritchey :-P) https://www.simple-talk.com/sql/database-administration/7-preventable-backup-errors/%5B/url%5D

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

    It takes a minimal capacity for rational thought to see that the corporate 'free press' is a structurally irrational and biased, and extremely violent, system of elite propaganda.
    David Edwards - Media lens[/url]

    Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall.
    Howard Zinn

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