best backup plan for 60 gb db

[swhitten]

I have a new client with a 60 gb database. I haven't even tried to do a full backup yet; I'm sure it would take hours. They tell me they have nightly incremental backups running.

What are the recommended backup policies and procedures for a database this large to ensure best restorability and data protection?

I have only worked with much smaller databases, so this one is a bit intimidating.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[mrdenny]

A 60 gig database shouldn't take that long to backup unless you are backing up to some very slow disks.

A database of this size isn't actually that large. Your standard Weekly Full, Daily Diff, then transaction log backups at what ever interval which meets the requirements for data loss in the event of a hardware failure is fine. If the logs are backed up every few minutes you may want to do a couple of diffs per day to speed up the restore time.

Denny
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[swhitten]

Denny,
I will set up maintenance plans as I usually do then, and see how it goes.

Thanks for your advice. I've just never dealt with one this large.

Sherry