Backup and Recovery

How to Configure Always On AG Backups with Ola Hallengren’s Scripts

With SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups, you can offload backups to a replica rather than running them on the primary. Here’s how to do it: 1. Install Ola Hallengren’s utility scripts on all of the replicas. During the install, it creates a laundry list of SQL Agent jobs, but doesn’t set up schedules for any of them.…
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backup being run from the sa account

Who’s Backing Up That Database?

Backup and Recovery
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A question came up on Twitter recently– how you can you figure out where a rogue backup is coming from? I’ve run into this question with clients before. In an enterprise environment where backup tools come and go, it’s not unusual to find backups being run by some mysterious account. By the way, when’s the…
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9 Ways to Lose Your Data

Every time someone tells me, “This database is mission critical – we can’t have data loss or downtime,” I just smile and shake my head. Technology is seriously difficult. To illustrate, here’s a collection of client stories from the last few years: The DBCC CHECKDB job ran every week just like it was supposed to…
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Backups, Restores, Corruption, and You: How Strong are You?

You and your databases have a strong relationship. You back them up, and check them for corruption. They provide the business with information day after day. Don’t let your relationship come to this! Then, one day, your relationship is rocked. The backups are too slow. The restores are too slow. There is…gasp…corruption. Are you prepared…
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3 Things You Need to Start Doing to Your Database Server

Taking care of your health is incredibly important (says the marathon runner). Eating right, exercising, and getting plenty of rest help you stay healthy and perform optimally. Does “an apple a day keep the doctor away” apply to cupcake apples? Your database server’s health is important to your company’s health. You need to take regular…
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