Category: Backups/Recovery

SQL Server High Availability and Disaster Recovery Options

Working with Microsoft SQL Server for many years I have spent a lot of time discussing the importance of the availability of SQL Server databases.  Questions that always come up when discussing availability of the data is “Recovery Time Objective – RTO” and “Recovery Point Objective – RPO”.  Both questions are very important when determining […]

Know Backups and Know Restores – SQL Server Restores

A couple of years ago I put together a training session to demonstrate various types of backups and restores. The driving factor behind me building this session was the response I got from talking to a dozen or so DBA’s about disaster recovery. I asked how many have ever performed a restore where you had to […]

The Primary Filegroup Cannot be Backed Up as a File Backup

File Group backups are great when working with very large databases (VLDB’s) that have been partitioned.  Typically when I come across File Group backups implemented in production the database is using the full recovery model. With the full recovery model you can specify individual file groups for backup. A very common backup strategy for VLDB’s […]

How to check for last SQL Server backup

As a database professional, I get asked to review the health of database environments very often. When I perform these reviews, one of the many checks I perform is reviewing backup history and making sure that the backup plans in place meet the requirements and service level agreements for the business. I have found a […]

Recovering the tail end of the transaction log

Knowing a great deal about backup and recovery is key to any DBA’s career. Most of us fully understand the recovery models, recovery point objectives and recovery time objectives. What I have found from speaking at many SQL Saturday’s and User Groups is that most DBA’s do not regularly practice recovery strategies. It is very […]

How to break a high end de-duplication backup device

I have been working with a client recently who purchased a nice top of the line de-duplication backup device in order to synchronize backups between two data centers. This device is very nice in how it will de-duplicate data to reduce storage needs and also compress the data. It will then synchronize the data to […]