Full Backup and Restore Solutions

Abstract

In the “real world,” there is a definite business need to have reliable backups available at a moment’s notice. The eventuality of data corruption is almost a guarantee, so the seasoned DBA must know that their database can be restored quickly and correctly. The availability and reliability of the backup are of utmost importance, whether backups are stored in a remote location or they are stored local to the database server. We often deal with service-level agreements, or SLAs, in our backup and recovery practices. This sort of document deals with a wide range of specifics, such as how often the backups are to be run, the conditions for restoring data, and how to restore the data. You may work in a place that doesn’t deal with these, and that is fine also. For instance, if you are providing database storage as a service as part of a web hosting package, then you will more than likely be bound with an SLA which describes the specifics of the availability of that system. Whether or not you are bound by an SLA in your daily responsibilities as a DBA, the one thing that will not change is your responsibility to the well-being of the database and the data it houses. I have tried to get one message across in every book I have written so far, and this book is no different: there is no greater responsibility we have as DBAs than the protection of our data.