Many people ask about utilizing third party software. The most common that I am aware of are Seagate’s Backup Exec, Cheyenne’s ArcServ, and UltraBac. Each of these backup solutions have many components that are available and have expanded along with Enterprise implementations. At the core, each of these were designed as backup solutions for file systems. Not until recently did they offer add-ons for SQL Server, Exchange, Notes, and other applications that utilize proprietary storage solutions and who maintain files open at all times.

Each of these products are stable and fit extremely well into your overall Enterprise backup solution. Some of the recent benchmarks for UltraBac have been extremely impressive.

But, it has always been my contention that none of these products have a role to play in my SQL Server backups. These are all designed as file system backup solutions and they do an extremely good job at that. However, all of the bugs and quirks are still being worked out when it comes to SQL Server backups. You are also wrapping all of your SQL Server backups inside a proprietary layer. This can make things very difficult if you choose to switch backup software or if the product introduces errors. In short, it is one more layer that can fail.

SQL Server’s backup is solid, proven, fast, and extremely reliable. Also in most cases, all these backup products do is to execute a backup command and store the baackup from SQL Server inside their proprietary wrapper. Since they are already executing SQL Server’s own backup commands, there is no need to go to the expense of these add ons. Also, the only piece of software that completely understands what is currently occuring inside your databases is SQL Server itself.

This does not mean I would not recommend any of these products. I whole heartedly recommend them and require them to be used in all of the backup plans I implement and will be seen in the next two sections. I do not recommend utilizing the SQL Server add ons to enable these products to directly backup your databases. This is due to inconsistencies that have been encountered over the last few years, it adds another layer that can fail, and it offers a single point of failure in your backup plan. As you will see in the next two sections, I rely very heavily on these products in my backup plans to perform the function were first designed for and are extremely good at – file backups.

Creating a backup strategy

You may have noticed that this section is about backup strategies and not backup plans. A backup plan would be impossible to place in this book, simply because it means I know the parameters of your environment. A strategy on the other hand is a general framework that can be adapted to your specific use.

There are as many back up strategies as there are companies. Almost every company will utlize a slightly different strategy or different components. When designing the backup strategy for your company, utilize as many layers as possible and also multiple media formats. There has never been an administrator fired from their job by overprotecting data. There are thousands who have lost jobs or entire businesses by underprotecting data. In the world of backup solutions, you can never have too many layers of protection or too many backups.

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