NetVault Plug-in for SQL Server 11.2

Full Database backups only: When requirements guarantee data protection up to the previous day, performing Full Database backups nightly should be sufficient when one or more of the following conditions exist:

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Backup windows are large.

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Databases are small.

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Updates are infrequent across entire database.

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Databases are only for testing or development purposes.

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Entire database is read-only.

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Full Database and Differential Database backups: When requirements guarantee data protection up to the previous day and backups must be completed quickly, Full Database backups coupled with Differential Database backups is a valid strategy. For example, Full Database backups are performed every Sunday night at 11:00 P.M. while Differential Database backups are performed Monday through Saturday at 11:00 P.M. Each Differential Database backup includes all the changes since the last Full Database backup, which is known as the differential base.

No matter when recovery is performed, the same number of restore jobs is required. For example, if recovery is performed on Tuesday, Sunday’s Full Database backup and Monday’s Differential Database must be restored. Whereas, if recovery is performed on Thursday, Sunday’s Full Database backup followed by Wednesday’s Differential Database backup must be restored.

Even though Differential Database backups increase not only in size but in duration, restores are quicker due to the fewer number of restore jobs that must be run.

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Full File and Filegroup backups and Partial Database backups: When a Simple Recovery Model database includes secondary read-only filegroups, a valid strategy includes Partial Database backups for the primary and read/write filegroups and Full File and Filegroup backups for read-only secondary filegroups. This strategy ensures recoverability of the entire database without requiring backup of the read-only filegroups every time the read/write filegroups are backed up.

Secondary read-only filegroups only need to be backed up once after the initial load and after subsequent updates. When requirements guarantee data protection up to the previous day for read/write filegroups, performing nightly Partial Database backups should be sufficient.

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Full File and Filegroup backups and Partial Database and Differential Partial Database backups: When requirements guarantee data protection for read/write data up to the previous day and backups must be completed quickly, Partial Database backups coupled with Differential Database Backups for the read/write data and Full File and Filegroup backup for the secondary read-only filegroups is a valid strategy.

For example, Full File and Filegroup backups are performed for read-only data only after the initial load and subsequent updates. Partial Database backups, which include the primary filegroup and all read/write filegroups, are performed every Sunday night at 11:00 P.M. In addition, Differential Partial Database backups for the same read/write filegroups are performed Monday through Saturday at 11:00 P.M. Each Differential Partial Database backup includes all the changes since the last Partial Database Backup, which is known as the differential base.

No matter when recovery is performed, the same number of restore jobs is required. For example, if recovery is performed on Tuesday, Sunday’s Partial Database backup and Monday’s Differential Partial Database must be restored. Whereas, if recovery is performed on Thursday, Sunday’s Partial Database backup followed by Wednesday’s Differential Partial Database backup must be restored.

Even though Differential Partial Database backups increase not only in size but also in duration, restores are quicker due to the fewer number of restore jobs that must be run.