JESDBA (1/11/2013)
Okay so I emailed the original IT guy, asking him to doublecheck if the disks were over there or not....It turns out he'd been using Arcserve the whole time and he has no idea how SQL 2005 got onto our server.
I have no clue how to use Arcserve and I'd really feel better using SQL. However, we're only running one instance of SQL, our data backups are relatively small, and I have no idea if we'd be willing to fork out the cash for a Enterprise edition of 2K12 or 2K8.
I know I can download the trial copy and use it, but the question is, should I? And essentially start from scratch?
I want to personally, as this will give me great hands on experience and I can begin anew.
What would you guys do in my position (beside crack open the vodka at 8 am and keep going until you can't stand up)?
If ArcServe is not "SQL Server"-aware then you probably do not have valid SQL database backups. I am not too familiar with the product but from a couple minutes on their site it looks like "SQL Server"-awareness is optional. I would say, start taking native SQL Server backups immediately. I would probably do that regardless since recovering a database from a file system backup is not always going to give you what you need.
Installing SSMS locally so you can manage the 2005 instance is not necessarily starting from scratch. I do not see it that way. The server will still be 2005. SSMS 2012 is slightly different with some of the keyboard shortcuts, but not drastically different than SSMS 2005 so much that you will not recognize it.
There are no special teachers of virtue, because virtue is taught by the whole community.
--Plato