Maybe it’s the change in seasons, or building excitement
before SQL Server Magazine Connections
and the other DevConnections conferences—but something’s
gotten into SQL Server forum members to make
them even livelier than usual. At the time of this writing,
the SQL Server General Discussion forum (sqlforums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/categories.aspx?catid=
74&entercat=y), the second most popular forum behind
SQL Server 2005 Administration, has had 19 posts with
69 replies in the past week—and that’s just one of 30
forums. Here are a couple of forum areas you’ll want to
take a look at.
Database Backup and Recovery
Worldviews
If you’re looking for a thought-provoking online conversation,
head over to the ongoing discussion about
database backup, restore, and disaster recovery in the SQL
Server General Discussion forum at sqlforums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=74&threadid=87792&enterthread=y. There, you’ll find forum
member dbbyleo’s well–thought-out explanation of his
approach to database backup and recovery.
Here’s an excerpt from the post: “First, I approach
recovery from the instance level, not the individual databases.
While a SQL Server instance is made up of systemand
user-databases, I make no distinctions between them
in terms of recovery—the instance is the whole ‘database.’
Second, I approach it so that it will ultimately allow me
to do a ‘displace’ recovery... not just an ‘in-place’ restore.
In other words, be able to restore the database on the
current host (‘in-place’), such as in a case of a media or
other failure where the host is intact—which is usually
the common, easy case. But above that, be able to recover
the database onto another host, such as in a case of a
catastrophic failure of the original host.... In the world
of SQL Server, there seems to be a disconnect between
how user databases should be backed up (and restored)
from the way system databases should be backed up (and
restored). Most people make distinctions between these
databases when it comes to backup and recovery.”
As you might expect, Leo’s post generated some
energetic debate, like these sample comments. “The
trouble with your thinking is that system databases have
some server-dependent information. So restoring them on a different server is a guarantee for the creation of a
DBA’s nightmare,” countered SQLUSA. And Pro Pete
responded, “I’m not sure really why there is all this fuss
regarding the restore/recovery process. We are all agreed
that whatever recovery/restore approach is used, the key to
a viable strategy is to ensure that you have appropriately
up-to-date backups of everything....” Discussions like this
one show that there’s no shortage of good ideas and strong
opinions in the SQL Server Magazine community!
Feedback Wanted
One of the favorite forums of SQL Server Magazine
editors is the Feedback forum (sqlforums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/categories.aspx?catid=79&entercat=y).
Our success depends on how well the magazine and Web
site bring you the information that’s relevant to your jobs
as SQL Server professionals. So we want to hear from
subscribers and online members about what SQL Server Magazine and Sqlmag.com are doing well—or need to
improve. We’re all about access, so stop by the Feedback
forum and tell us how we can help deliver the information
you need.
Another way to give feedback to SQL Server Magazine
editors and authors is by commenting on articles. Editors
and authors subscribe to comment RSS feeds, so we can get
timely feedback from readers and respond quickly. To comment
on an article, you need to be a registered user. Simply
scroll down to the bottom of the article, rate the article,
and post your comments. And of course, you can always
email any of the SQL Server Magazine authors or staff. For
more information, see the Contact Us page at www.sqlmag.com/aboutus/index.cfm?action=contactus.
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