Backups 1: 3 Common Strategies

Backing up SQL Server is different than backing up your conventional file or app servers. Databases have a few really big files, and you don't want to back up the file itself, and the file is constantly changing, 24/7. Rather than file-level backups, you have 3 common choices: server-level snapshot backups, native full SQL Server backups, and transaction log backups. In this session, I'll explain the pros and cons of each one, and explain where each one makes the most sense.

[safraz.hosein]

Thank you so much for this. I messaged you on Tuesday to ask about this course and you said it was no longer offered. Now you released it for free on youtube. Thanks a lot man!

[fireandworms]

Brent thanks very much for this content. And thanks also for your personality! Watching and listening to you always puts a smile on my face, the teacher really does make a difference even if the information isn't super fun to learn about.

[ikhzter]

OH wow. Just found out this is now free. Thank you so very much!

[malcomreynolds]

My issue with snapshot backups are that they remove a lot of the oversight and management from the DBA. Things can come up like the backups randomly breaking and the backup administrator spins their wheels for days trying to figure it out with there are no backups. It really spreads out the responsibility for backups, to extend to the VMware administrator, the storage administrator, usually someone from systems and when there is a problem in any one of those four areas, it can create backup problems that all of them are required to work together on, and four different areas that can break the backups. have also had backup admins decide to start backing up windows on a SQL server which normally wouldn't be an issue but when the backup server and backup storage is getting hammered with however many other backups are, windows may get frozen for an extended period. This is really fun when it happens to multiple nodes in the failover cluster, you lose quorum and then it spends a few minutes figuring out whos on first, whats on second.

Veeam specifically has made backups really easy to manage so that lots of organizations will put someone on who doesn't understand backups, vss, the applications being backed up, etc and when there is a problem can't resolve it. Bugs and managing updates are also a somewhat common problem, veeam seems to have 1-2 per year that seriously impact performance, going back a few years ago they had a few bugs that would actually damage a server.

I implemented snap protect once 7-8 years ago and it was fantastic, but the backups, and understanding sharepoint, exchange, SQL, AD et al well enough to understand what and why I was backing up what I was, was the job. Most of the places i have been the veeam backup guy didn't even know what a log file in SQL is, and was also usually responsible for supporting an entire other full time job while the backups were just supposed to work and not have problems that needed to be dealt with.

[hadifadlallah]

Thanks a million for releasing this course for free!!

[MohitSharma-bzez]

Thanks Brent! How about taking full native SQL backup along with periodic differential backups for simple recovery configured databases?

[mdadnanulchowdhury]

Hey Brent, Would it be possible to get access to the slides for "Fundamentals of Database Administration"?

[MiningForPies]

We don’t have a DBA, just me as a dev who knows a bit of SQL. They’re currently doing 4 daily backups per day and are refusing to switch to log or diff backups. Madness.

[cjmorgan]

So I know this an old class, but as far as Snapshot backups, they don't truncate the log file if the database is in full recovery model after the snapshot, you have to run native SQL log backups for that, no?

[billkaragiannakis]

Fundamental classes are great because it defragments our existing knowledge don't underestimate them Brent :D . But what about VDI backups??

[fahdbahoo]

Databases are more critical then emails

[TheMapleSight]

Is knowledge from this course still up to date?

[tarjei]

You know the saying : Real men don't do backups, but they cry a lot.