Backup Best Practices for SQL Server 2008

27 Oct 2010

SQL

Follow the guidelines given below when planning and implementing an appropriate backup strategy:

• Perform backups on a regular basis.
• Define a backup strategy and dedicate members of your team to carry out the tasks.
• Select the full recovery model if you need to restore data to a specific point in time.
• Create backup devices for scheduled backup jobs.
• Schedule backups should be carried out during periods where the database activity is less.
• Perform at least one full backup as a basis for all other backup strategies.
• Use backup compression to reduce the storage space of your backups.
• Define a strategy to verify backups before they are restored.
• Avoid assuming database snapshots as a replacement to a regular backup strategy.
• Back up system databases after they have been modified.
• Test your backup strategy on a periodic basis.