Bouncing Boxes: Easy (and cheap) SQL Server Backups

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Easy (and cheap) SQL Server Backups

The Backup/DR solution I use at work, like most of them, requires extra licenses to backup MS SQL databases. I happened to be SQL happy and have databases running on 4 or 5 servers (yes I lost count), purchasing a license for each one can get expensive. To get around this I had been using a isql from a batch file to dump the database files to a folder before the backup, and while this worked fine it had two problems. First it wastes a lot of space, and second I have no way of knowing if the dump was successful I know, I could have written a complex batch file to notify me but I am not a fan of batch files, if I am going to bother with that I will just write something in c or vb.net.

I came across SQLBackupAndFTP, and it's a slick solution with a not too sophisticated name. It will backup and compress your SQL databases, handle full and incremental and even purge old backups. It apparently will FTP them too, but I have didn't bother with that. It will also backup SQL database from remote servers with a little extra configuration. They have a free version that will backup two databases (I use that at home) and various paid versions that will backup more. If your Backup/DR solution gouges you for SQL backups you should check it out.

SQLBackupAndFTP.com

-Keith

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About Me

I am an IT Director for a manufacturing company in south central Texas. I have some 25 years of experience in programming, computer repair and networking.

I do not have a degree in computer science, in fact I do not have a degree in anything, though I have been to some training classes over the years. I've always had a knack for computers. My father worked for IBM, all of my brothers have worked in IT, it's in my DNA I suppose. I naturally understand computers better than I understand people (think Asperger's). I read RFC's for fun. You get the idea.

But, given my lack of formal education, my knack for technology and my personality I tend to not hold technology with the same high regard as most of my peers. In fact, I never wanted to work in IT in the first place. I was going to be a musician. Turns out musicians don't make a lot of money. Since I needed a new career path I decided to take the easiest route to success. You might call me a technology renegade. Okay, maybe not.