We implement HA in various ways here. We have some clusters of SQL 2005 on Windows 2003 which means we cannot geographically separate the servers. We use Log Shipping on some databases and Database Mirroring on others. In one particular case we mirror a database that is on a cluster to a geographically separate site. In some instances we use the old tried and true backup and restore.

When a business unit presents the need to store data within SQL I present them with the options trying to give them an over view of the good and the bad of each option. Surprisingly most requests end up being that "Last nights backup is good enough for us."

One other thing I see a lot of is implementing an HA plan and then never testing it. Testing an HA has to be done on a regular basis or you may and probably will end up with unrecoverable data during a disaster.

Rick Romack