Very Computer

I need to decide whether I want to purchase a SQL backup
agent for hot backups or if I want to do cold backups
through SQL manager.

I know each has advantages and disadvantages.  Anyone have
a good reason why I should spend the $1500 for the agent?

Thanks,
Jim

Quote:> I need to decide whether I want to purchase a SQL backup
> agent for hot backups or if I want to do cold backups
> through SQL manager.

> I know each has advantages and disadvantages.  Anyone have
> a good reason why I should spend the $1500 for the agent?

I'm biased.  Having not tried a "hot" agent since SQL 6.5 was new.

I see one use for them:  When you are creating some sort of system snapshot
that you can easily lay down on another system with all files in one backup
set.

For a production server, I've found the tools in SQL Server more than
adequate since with the combination of a full backup and transaction logs,
you can get a backup of your database that is consistent and can be restored
to the point in time of the last transaction log.

Quote:

> Thanks,
> Jim

backups are not "cold" in SQL Server.  You can natively backup an active
database to disk or tape, and have a consistent snapshot or transaction log
through the most recent committed transaction without taking the database
off line, and with an amazingly LOW impact on system performance.

Quote:> I need to decide whether I want to purchase a SQL backup
> agent for hot backups or if I want to do cold backups
> through SQL manager.

> I know each has advantages and disadvantages.  Anyone have
> a good reason why I should spend the $1500 for the agent?

> Thanks,
> Jim

Hello Jim

SQL Server provides backup functionality that is very adequate for a
production server. Starting in version 7.0 SQL Server performs backups
using a technique known as "fuzzy backups",  which means that only shared
locks are placed in the database pages therefore avoiding a high
performance impact. To make sure that all backed up pages are up to date
the transactions that took place from since the start of the backup are
also included in the backup. Thus, we can think of it as a warm backup.
Furthermore, SQL Server provides you with the ability to performa
transaction log backups, differential backups and filegroup backups. A
restore can contemplate the possibility of restoring up to a specific time.

One of the few functionalities that I have seen in third party backups
applications and SQL Server doesn't have is the ability to perform backups
to remote tape drives.

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