T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #012: Why DBA skills are necessary
This is my ongoing series of answering T-SQL Tuesday posts far too late to be of any use. Click here if you want to read previous entries. Paul Randal asked us in November 2010 why…
The importance of backups
I have been selected to present a second session for the PASS Summit in November this year. I wrote a few weeks ago about the Linux Learning Path and being a part of that, so…
Using a home-grown Azure Blob Storage solution for SQL Server backups
I’m here for the small organizations, the shops that can’t afford expensive solutions to maintain their environments. I’m here for them because that’s me: the one-person consultancy. I’ve built stuff that’s useful to me, and…
Speaking at SQLSaturday 725 in Victoria
Victoria is on an island off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia. The island is wisely called Vancouver Island. It is beautiful there, and I wouldn’t mind retiring there someday. Those of you who listen…
The perils of RAID
Recently, I was asked to assist an organization with getting their data back for a SQL Server that had experienced physical hard drive failure. I asked a lot of questions about the configuration of the…
Backup Retention Policies
Today’s post is just a bunch of questions, but they are very important questions, all around the main topic of a Backup Retention Policy. How long do you keep backups for every database in your environment (including…
AzCopy 101 – Copying SQL Server backup files to Azure Blob Storage
SQL Server 2016, released last month, now lets us back up our database files to two locations simultaneously. This is very good news if we’re running the latest and greatest (and it really is a good…
The Transaction Log Is Very Resilient
Last week I wondered whether a log backup chain would survive a database migration. Unsurprisingly, the answer is “yes”. I also asked if a log backup taken on the new instance would be usable on…
Saving Time By Splitting Files for a Backup
During a recent engagement with a client transferring large files from on premises to Azure Storage, we discovered that files over a certain size are automatically throttled, causing file uploads to take much longer than expected.…
Expiration Date on Database Backups
What does the expiration date mean on SQL Server database backups? In SQL Server Management Studio, there’s an option in the Back Up Database wizard which explicitly provides an option for “Backup set will expire”.…
Compressed and Encrypted Backups on the Cheap
We back up our databases regularly. We store them on a secure network location so that if the database drive fails, we can still satisfy the requirements for a rapid disaster recovery time (RTO, or…
Announcing Azure Blob Storage Sync and Restore
Yesterday at SQLSaturday #407 in Vancouver, I announced availability of a free tool to synchronise and restore your SQL Server backups using Azure Blob Storage. It can work alongside your existing backup process, and leverages…
Pre-Announcement Announcement
On Saturday, 27 June 2015, I will be presenting at SQLSaturday #407 in Vancouver BC. The session is titled “Restoring a SQL Server Database from Azure Blob Storage”. I will be releasing some new content…
On the importance of good backups
I’ve been vocal for some years about the importance of backups, and I have zero sympathy for anyone who does not have good backups*. This comes with (very) painful experience: a few years ago, during…