If the SQL Browser isn't running, or the UDP 1434 is blocked, then I believe -L doesn't work.

If you have good primary keys, that should prevent duplication. Make sure the archive database has the same PKs.

The process I'd use it to move a slice of the data...

I'm not sure what this is, but without asking a question in the post and formatting things better, I'm not sure anyone will try to answer this.

I used to manage a mixed shop (DB2/Oracle/SQL Server), and the DB2/Oracle guys would always take cold backups on a regular basis.

A cold backup is one where the server is...

We are happy to help, but we don't like to do work for you. This looks like an exam or interview question, and in that case, you should be trying...

I'd second the maintenance plan if you're not familiar with SQL Server and how backups work.

Partitions might make more sense in that case. Sorry, wasn't sure what you were trying to accomplish from the first post.

No matter how you do it, you probably want to...

I think having a large db would be a headache. On call, no sleep, family interrupted. It would be a challenge, but I'm not sure I'd think it was fun.

I...

Note that you can mitigate the downtime by having a warm server, and restore the logs (and fulls) as they're taken.

I am still not clear what you mean. A package cannot run without being scheduled or called from some other program, so you can typically arrange a workflow.

I'm also...

If you run the package as a job, then it will be recorded. If you run it some other way, you'd need to note that. The easiest way is insert...

You could write logic into the beginning of both packages to check if the other is running. This is stored in MSDB, and you can query to determine if the...

You absolutely can start with Standard and move to Enterprise, but again, you haven't given enough information for us to decide if those features matter.

The size of the database doesn't...

I'd tend to agree with Michael. It also depends on resources and time. The updates might be spread out, whereas a reinsert tends to run at once. If you index...

LOL, no, my brother. :w00t:

Actually I have quite a few contacts and friends that I see at the PASS Summit, and rarely correspond outside of that. Amazing how much you...