advice on creating a backup plan

Could someone give me some feedback on the backup plan that I have created
for my companies SQL Server. First a little background.
We have 1 win2k advance server running both IIS and our SQL Server. The
database held on the server is the backend to our e-commerce site. The db
needs to be up 24-7 and typically sees the most usage from 9am - 11pm EST.
Atleast half of the tables in the db are modified through the day. There are
no large bulk insertions or deletions done through the day. The MDF and LDF
files are on different hd's.
I would like to create a plan so that in case of massive hardware failur we
could have a complete up-to-date copy of the db back up in less than 4
hours. I would like to backup up my sql databases and the Win2k system
state. The database recovery method is set to FULL.
The backup cycle starts at 6:00 am EST with a complete backup of the
database. Every 2 hours after the complete backup the transaction log is
backed up. Every 6 hours after the complete backup a Differential DB backup
is made.
At 5:00 am the next day those files are copied to another drive and the
cycle starts again with the complete db backup file overwriting itself.
This way I will always have a complete backup of the following day. I also
copy the backed up backups offline to a different server for archiving.
The system db's are backedup every week. Integrity checks are done every
week as well.
Is there anything else I should do like re create indexes as part of my
plan? How often should I back up the system state? Rigth now I back it up
once a week.
Any comments would be appreciated as preventing the loss of data is of the
utmost importance. Thanks in advance.The big thing I see regards WHERE the backups are kept...If you are leaving
them on the SQL box all day, change the plan... backup things to a different
box, and get the backups off of the SQL Server...
Wayne Snyder, MCDBA, SQL Server MVP
Computer Education Services Corporation (CESC), Charlotte, NC
www.computeredservices.com
(Please respond only to the newsgroups.)
I support the Professional Association of SQL Server (PASS) and it's
community of SQL Server professionals.
www.sqlpass.org
"news.microsoft.com" <cramsundar@.mail.com> wrote in message
news:OBt4tPpjDHA.2244@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Could someone give me some feedback on the backup plan that I have created
> for my companies SQL Server. First a little background.
> We have 1 win2k advance server running both IIS and our SQL Server. The
> database held on the server is the backend to our e-commerce site. The db
> needs to be up 24-7 and typically sees the most usage from 9am - 11pm EST.
> Atleast half of the tables in the db are modified through the day. There
are
> no large bulk insertions or deletions done through the day. The MDF and
LDF
> files are on different hd's.
> I would like to create a plan so that in case of massive hardware failur
we
> could have a complete up-to-date copy of the db back up in less than 4
> hours. I would like to backup up my sql databases and the Win2k system
> state. The database recovery method is set to FULL.
> The backup cycle starts at 6:00 am EST with a complete backup of the
> database. Every 2 hours after the complete backup the transaction log is
> backed up. Every 6 hours after the complete backup a Differential DB
backup
> is made.
> At 5:00 am the next day those files are copied to another drive and the
> cycle starts again with the complete db backup file overwriting itself.
> This way I will always have a complete backup of the following day. I
also
> copy the backed up backups offline to a different server for archiving.
> The system db's are backedup every week. Integrity checks are done every
> week as well.
> Is there anything else I should do like re create indexes as part of my
> plan? How often should I back up the system state? Rigth now I back it
up
> once a week.
> Any comments would be appreciated as preventing the loss of data is of the
> utmost importance. Thanks in advance.
>|||We do not have another box to back up the data too. We have a very small
operation. The backups reside on two different hds and will be copied off
the server.
"Wayne Snyder" <wsnyder@.computeredservices.com> wrote in message
news:Oh4WL2pjDHA.1284@.TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> The big thing I see regards WHERE the backups are kept...If you are
leaving
> them on the SQL box all day, change the plan... backup things to a
different
> box, and get the backups off of the SQL Server...
>
> --
> Wayne Snyder, MCDBA, SQL Server MVP
> Computer Education Services Corporation (CESC), Charlotte, NC
> www.computeredservices.com
> (Please respond only to the newsgroups.)
> I support the Professional Association of SQL Server (PASS) and it's
> community of SQL Server professionals.
> www.sqlpass.org
>
> "news.microsoft.com" <cramsundar@.mail.com> wrote in message
> news:OBt4tPpjDHA.2244@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > Could someone give me some feedback on the backup plan that I have
created
> > for my companies SQL Server. First a little background.
> >
> > We have 1 win2k advance server running both IIS and our SQL Server. The
> > database held on the server is the backend to our e-commerce site. The
db
> > needs to be up 24-7 and typically sees the most usage from 9am - 11pm
EST.
> > Atleast half of the tables in the db are modified through the day. There
> are
> > no large bulk insertions or deletions done through the day. The MDF and
> LDF
> > files are on different hd's.
> >
> > I would like to create a plan so that in case of massive hardware failur
> we
> > could have a complete up-to-date copy of the db back up in less than 4
> > hours. I would like to backup up my sql databases and the Win2k system
> > state. The database recovery method is set to FULL.
> >
> > The backup cycle starts at 6:00 am EST with a complete backup of the
> > database. Every 2 hours after the complete backup the transaction log is
> > backed up. Every 6 hours after the complete backup a Differential DB
> backup
> > is made.
> >
> > At 5:00 am the next day those files are copied to another drive and the
> > cycle starts again with the complete db backup file overwriting itself.
> > This way I will always have a complete backup of the following day. I
> also
> > copy the backed up backups offline to a different server for archiving.
> >
> > The system db's are backedup every week. Integrity checks are done
every
> > week as well.
> >
> > Is there anything else I should do like re create indexes as part of my
> > plan? How often should I back up the system state? Rigth now I back it
> up
> > once a week.
> >
> > Any comments would be appreciated as preventing the loss of data is of
the
> > utmost importance. Thanks in advance.
> >
> >
>sql

Advanced Execution Plan Question

I have a scenario where I have 3 tables joined together. The first is the
"main" table that will define the result set. The second is a lookup table;
the main table has a foreign key to it. The third is a detail table; it has
a foreign key to the main table. Both the second and third tables are on
the right side on a LEFT OUTER JOIN. In this particular query, I only need
the detail data for a particular row if the lookup row exists. The reason
for this is that if the lookup row exists, it will be used to further filter
the result set based upon a value in the detail row. But if the lookup row
doesn't exist, there's no need to lookup the detail row. In order to
optimize the query I attempted to add an additional condition to the ON
clause joining the main and detail table saying only join if the lookup key
is not null:
SELECT
...
FROM
tbFilterTest F
LEFT JOIN tbFilterTestLookup L ON F.LookupID = L.LookupID
LEFT JOIN tbFilterTestDetail D ON L.LookupID IS NOT NULL
AND
F.FilterID
= D.FilterID
My hope was that in the join in the execution plan that there would be an
argument "L.LookupID <> null". What I'm ending up with in the actual
execution plan is the "L.LookupID <> null" is not in the join but its
showing up as an argument in the index s for the inner input, meaning
(I'm thinking) that the s is still getting executed and then the
"L.LookupID <> null" is being applied afterward, which means the s was
wasted if "L.LookupID = null".
Now I put together the 3 tables listed above to test this more closely.
Interestingly enough, the "L.LookupID <> null" argument WAS in the join and
not in the inner input, meaning the index s was not being performed on
the detail table when the lookup was null. HOWEVER, I noticed the inner
input (detail table) was having an index scan because I didn't have an index
on FilterID. Once I put the index on FilterID on the detail table, the
"L.LookupID <> null" moved back to the inner input (detail) index s!
I'm trying to understand the logic of this and also wonder if there is a way
to make the "L.LookupID <> null" always occur in the join. The actual
query I'm doing this for is very vital and regularly executed.
Below is DDL, sample data, and the query. Also is the index that "makes the
difference". If you execute the query without the index and then with the
index, you should see the "L.LookupID <> null" move from the join to the
inner input index s. Note that the sample query simply demonstrates "the
moving WHERE clause" in the execution plan. It does not demonstrate the
condition in my real query that moved me to try and accomplish this.
Thanks,
Mike
----
SET NOCOUNT ON
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sysobjects where name = 'tbFilterTestDetail')
DROP TABLE tbFilterTestDetail
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sysobjects where name = 'tbFilterTest')
DROP TABLE tbFilterTest
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sysobjects where name = 'tbFilterTestLookup')
DROP TABLE tbFilterTestLookup
GO
CREATE TABLE tbFilterTestLookup
(
LookupID int NOT NULL CONSTRAINT PK_FilterTestLookup PRIMARY KEY
)
GO
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (1000)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (2000)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (3000)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (4000)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5000)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5001)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5002)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5003)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5004)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5005)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5006)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5007)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5008)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5009)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5010)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5011)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5012)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5013)
INSERT tbFilterTestLookup (LookupID) VALUES (5014)
GO
CREATE TABLE tbFilterTest
(
FilterID int NOT NULL CONSTRAINT PK_FilterTest PRIMARY KEY,
LookupID int NOT NULL
)
GO
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (100, 10) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (200, 11) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (300, 12) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (400, 1000) -- Match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (500, 13) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (600, 14) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (700, 20) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (800, 20) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (900, 20) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (620, 20) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (730, 20) -- No match
INSERT tbFilterTest (FilterID, LookupID) VALUES (840, 20) -- No match
GO
CREATE TABLE tbFilterTestDetail
(
DetailID int IDENTITY (10000, 1) NOT NULL CONSTRAINT PK_tbFilterTestDetail
PRIMARY KEY,
FilterID int NOT NULL CONSTRAINT FK_tbFilterTestDetail_tbFilterTest
REFERENCES tbFilterTest (FilterID),
Descrip varchar(128) NOT NULL
)
GO
CREATE INDEX IX_tbFilterTestDetail_FilterID ON tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID)
GO
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (100, '100-1-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (100, '100-2-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (200, '200-1-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (200, '200-2-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (300, '200-1-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (300, '200-2-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (400, '400-1-match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (400, '400-2-match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (500, '500-1-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (500, '500-2-no match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (600, '600-1-match')
INSERT tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID, Descrip) VALUES (600, '600-2-match')
GO
-- Sample Query
SELECT
F.FilterID,
L.LookupID,
D.Descrip
FROM
tbFilterTest F
LEFT JOIN tbFilterTestLookup L ON F.LookupID = L.LookupID
LEFT JOIN tbFilterTestDetail D ON L.LookupID IS NOT NULL -- this is
the condition that moves in the execution plan
AND
F.FilterID =
D.FilterID
-- Magic index: try sample query w/ and w/o
CREATE INDEX IX_tbFilterTestDetail_FilterID ON tbFilterTestDetail (FilterID)
GOOn Thu, 18 Aug 2005 13:53:36 -0400, Mike Jansen wrote:
(snip)
>Both the second and third tables are on
>the right side on a LEFT OUTER JOIN. In this particular query, I only need
>the detail data for a particular row if the lookup row exists.
Hi Mike,
Then why use a LEFT OUTER JOIN' Outer joins should only be used if
you must retain rows from one table even though there is no match in the
other table. The standard join type (INNER JOIN) will retain only rows
that match (as per your request) and will probably perform faster as
well.
SELECT ...
FROM tbFilterTest AS F
INNER JOIN tbFilterTestLookup AS L
ON F.LookupID = L.LookupID
LEFT JOIN tbFilterTestDetail AS D
ON F.FilterID = D.FilterID
If you are sure that there will always be at least one matching row in
the FilterTestDetail table, change the second join to an INNER JOIN as
well. It won't change the results, but it might speed up the
performance.
Best, Hugo
--
(Remove _NO_ and _SPAM_ to get my e-mail address)