Backup with MS SQL Server

You must always have a recent and consistent copy of database data that can be used to recover the database in the event of failure involving data loss. You need to back up the data and log from the database. For an introduction to backup with MS SQL Server, see Database Backup .

1. You develop a robust and secure backup strategy .

   Consider the following factors:

   • Frequency and timing of backups

   • Type of database backups

   • Whether you want to use the Database Planning Calendar of the Computing Center Management System (CCMS) to schedule backups

   • How long you intend to keep the storage media with the backups before they are overwritten

   • Monitoring and checking of backups

   Recommendation

   We recommend you to:

   • Use full database backups as often as possible, preferably once per day. If you choose to use differential backups, remember that you cannot use differential backups for a restore independently of the corresponding full backup.

   • Back up the transaction log every 30 to 60 minutes during normal production. The frequency of transaction log backups depends on the transaction rate on your system and the transaction log size. If the transaction log fills, the database stops processing and the SAP system is also forced to stop.

2. You define and schedule the backup, using one of the following backup tools:

   • For regular scheduled backups

     Backing Up with the SAP System

   • For one-off backups

     Backing Up the SQL Server Database

3. You monitor the backup and check its consistency.

4. You check and review your backup strategy. For example, this might include testing that you can use the backups to successfully restore the database from time to time or using a copy of the production system on a separate machine.

   Caution

   Make sure that you regularly check database consistency , because if the database is corrupt, so are any backups.

   We recommend checking database consistency on the backup validation server, if you have one, because the check is I/O intensive. This lets you check database consistency without impacting the production server.

You always have an up-to-date backup of your database. This lets you quickly recover the database in the event of a failure involving data loss. Therefore, the availability of your SAP system increases because downtime due to the absence of a suitable database backup is kept to a minimum.