Recovery Markers for Business Continuity

In every disaster recovery plan for SQL Server it should have specified the key goals. The goals that should be recorded are the Recovery Point Objective and Recovery Time Objective.

The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the amount of acceptable data loss specified within your contractual obligations.

The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the amount of time the service can be unavailable after a disaster.

Example

RPO - 5 minutes of data loss only
RTO - 1 hour before service needs to be restored

Backup Process

A backup and recovery process should be put in place to backup the databases and backups should be regularly restored to test the validity of the backup process.

The Database is Shutdown

When the databse state is showing as shutdown some troubleshooting steps are required.

To identify the database status run:-

USE master
SELECT databaseproperty(‘databasename’,'isShutdown’)

Clear the database status:-

USE master
ALTER DATABASE databasename SET offline

Bring the database back online:-

USE master
ALTER DATABASE databasename SET online

Check database

DBCC CHECKDB

Other things to check

• Is Autogrow enabled?
• Is their enough filespace?
• Is their sufficient memory and disk space?
• Are the physical files marked as read only?
  

SQLBits - The 7 Wonders of SQL

On arriving at sqlbits I was greeted by a friendly duck enjoying what was left of the rain. The community day was full of amazing speakers with great enthusiasm for the field. Some of the themes covered Virtualisation , SAN Storage, NoSQL (Not Only SQL) eventually consistent databases, SQL Azure and the cloud, Data as a strategy, geospatial reporting, Master Data Management, the SQLCAT etc. etc. It was great to be able to share experiences in the field with like minded individuals. I look forward with anticipation, to the next event.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 is released

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 is released and can be downloaded

Service Pack 2 contains updates for

SQL Server Utility
Data-Tier Application (DAC)
Integration capability for Microsoft Reporting Services with the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Technologies
Support for a maximum of 15,000 partitions in a database
It includes SQL Server 2008 SP1 Cumulative Update 1 to 8

SQL Server 2008 R2 Express

The new version is available with graphical management tools, reporting capabilities , full text search and spatial support. It has 10GB of data storage andis compatible with the cloud SQL Azure Database service. The Database with Advance Services contains the most features and can be downloaded here.

Installation notes on how to Install SQL Server 2008 R2 (Express Edition) can be found here.

Current Trends

The current trends for databases are

Virtualization of the SQL Stack
Cloud based databases
NoSQL databases
Business Intelligence
Data Archiving

Microsoft SQL Server2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer

SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer has been released for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2. It is a diagnostic tool and can be downloaded here.