Pro SQL Server Disaster Recovery

Many would argue that the single most important job of a SQL Server database administrator is to be able to recover your database in the event of loss or damage. Pro SQL Server Disaster Recovery helps you meet that goal by showing you how to think about and plan for potential problems. You’ll learn to anticipate and reduce the likelihood of a disaster, and to mitigate the effects of a disaster when one does occur. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn how to prepare so that you can return a system to its normal state quickly, ensuring system availability and the continued success and operation of your business.

Many SQL Server features and technologies are, or can be put to good use in disaster recovery planning. In this book, you’ll learn about powerful tools and features—such as Database Snapshots and Mirroring—for data backup and disaster recovery that are present in SQL Server 2005, and that are enhanced in SQL Server 2008. Also covered are common issues to expect when using these features. This book explores your options by examining the technical details of disaster recovery features and then applying that knowledge to practical scenarios.

There’s a human side to disaster recovery planning as well. Like few other activities, disaster recovery planning requires that you work closely with a wide variety of people from all across your organization. People skills are as critical to disaster recovery planning as technical skills, and perhaps more so. This book does not leave you in the dark, but provides sound advice on how to keep disaster recovery planning projects on track, how to avoid dangerous scope creep, and how to work effectively with the variety of personality types that you will encounter.

Disaster recovery planning is really about sleep. When you get the call at 3:00 am that your database is lost, don’t wake up with that icy feeling in your veins. Instead, wake up with confidence that you have a plan in place, a plan that you’ve practiced, that management has bought into, a plan that you can execute even while half–asleep to get your database, your company, and your job back on track.

What you’ll learn

This book shows you how to implement an effective disaster recovery strategy for SQL Server 2005 databases. It covers:

• Real–world examples of data loss and what might have been done to prevent it
• A systematic, problem–based approach to designing a disaster recovery plan
• Pitfalls one might encounter, and how to deal with them
• Team dynamics, and the soft–side of disaster planning
• New technology in SQL Server 2005 and 2008 that takes disaster recovery beyond the simple backup/recovery plan
• When and why to use disaster recovery features, as opposed to just describing how they work

SQL Server database administrators.

As Today's businesses become increasingly reliant on the information they store in their various databases, so the effective protection of that data becomes ever-more critical. Potential disasters can arise from natural causes like floods and hurricanes, to user errors, to media or hardware failure. The process of disaster recovery involves mitigating the likelihood of a disaster and the process of returning the system to a normal state. It is intricately linked with the important areas of availability and business continuity—which ensure day-to-day activities can continue regardless of the problem.

This book shows you how to implement an effective disaster recovery strategy for SQL Server 2005 and 2008 databases. You’ll learn about powerful tools and features—such as Database Snapshots and Mirroring—for data backup and disaster recovery that are present in SQL Server 2005, and that are enhanced in SQL Server 2008. Users of SQL Server 2000 will find that the options for handling disaster recovery have increased dramatically. This book explores those options by examining the technical details of disaster recovery features and then applying that knowledge to practical scenarios. Also covered are fundamental changes to disaster recovery capabilities, and common issues to expect when using new features.

James Luetkehoelter is an MSCE, MSCD, MCDBA, MCT, and Oracle Certified Professional who has been working in the database field for more than a decade. He is currently the principle consultant and owner of Spyglass LLC, a data-centric consulting company.

James is a frequent presenter at SQL Server conferences, both in the US and in Europe. His teaching and presenting style is best described as “eclectic”, though some may say “just plain goofy”. In his spare time he catalogues the various pronunciations of “Luetkehoelter”. He is currently at 2,017 distinct variations.