Log backups

Hello,
Im looking for an easy, efficient, inexpensive way to backup the SQL transaction logs. I was thinking about purchasing a DVD burner to back them up to, but I don't know a whole lot about DVD burners or SQL backup for that matter. Will I be able to do this? I would like to have the logs backed up to the DVD every half hour, will a DVD support this type of write/re-write access? Of course in addition to that I plan to have full db backups done once a day to tape, but I can take care of that part. My main concern is with the log files, does anyone know if backing up to a DVD drive like that will work?
Thanks.
NATHAN WALTER
Santa Barbara, CA
Please don't post in HTML.
I think a hard drive would be far easier and cheaper.
How many days/weeks of backups do you expect to need to save?
"Nathan Walter" <nwalter@.fielding.edu> wrote in message
news:eECt22j4EHA.1452@.TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
Hello,
Im looking for an easy, efficient, inexpensive way to backup the SQL
transaction logs. I was thinking about purchasing a DVD burner to back them
up to, but I don't know a whole lot about DVD burners or SQL backup for that
matter. Will I be able to do this? I would like to have the logs backed up
to the DVD every half hour, will a DVD support this type of write/re-write
access? Of course in addition to that I plan to have full db backups done
once a day to tape, but I can take care of that part. My main concern is
with the log files, does anyone know if backing up to a DVD drive like that
will work?
Thanks.
NATHAN WALTER
Santa Barbara, CA
|||Well I was hoping to be able to take the logs off site for storage and a
DVD burner would allow me to keep as many as I like for a relatively low
cost. Getting a hard drive is a possibility but its a raid/scsi server
system and a 100 or so gig hard drive would cost about $600.
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|||"Nathan Walter" <nwalter@.fielding.edu> wrote in message
news:uf%2371el4EHA.2316@.TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Well I was hoping to be able to take the logs off site for storage and a
> DVD burner would allow me to keep as many as I like for a relatively low
> cost. Getting a hard drive is a possibility but its a raid/scsi server
> system and a 100 or so gig hard drive would cost about $600.
You probably don't want the hard drive directly on the server, if say the
RAID controller goes bad and starts writing bad data, your backup could be
hosed, etc.
In any case, unless you need archival, (i.e. years worth) for some reason,
one option is a pair of portable USB drives. Not super fast, but workable.
Swap one in and one out at a time.
I mean it may be possible to use the DVD drive, but I'd be hesitant to try.

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> Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!
|||I have never tried to backup directly to a DVD, but it wouldn't take but a second to find out...
If you are going to backup to a disk drive, just buy a cheap IDE drive, and put it on another server somewhere. Backup the logs to the other drive. You could uy 2 drives and swap them out weekly ( depending on how much data you will be backing up).
You could also backup to the IDE drive, THEN copy the backup files to the DVD using normal file copy and backup procedures, then remove the files from the disk drive...
Wayne Snyder, MCDBA, SQL Server MVP
Mariner, Charlotte, NC
www.mariner-usa.com
(Please respond only to the newsgroups.)
I support the Professional Association of SQL Server (PASS) and it's
community of SQL Server professionals.
www.sqlpass.org
"Nathan Walter" <nwalter@.fielding.edu> wrote in message news:eECt22j4EHA.1452@.TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
Hello,
Im looking for an easy, efficient, inexpensive way to backup the SQL transaction logs. I was thinking about purchasing a DVD burner to back them up to, but I don't know a whole lot about DVD burners or SQL backup for that matter. Will I be able to do this? I would like to have the logs backed up to the DVD every half hour, will a DVD support this type of write/re-write access? Of course in addition to that I plan to have full db backups done once a day to tape, but I can take care of that part. My main concern is with the log files, does anyone know if backing up to a DVD drive like that will work?
Thanks.
NATHAN WALTER
Santa Barbara, CA
|||You can use ntbackup with http://www.firestreamer.com/fsdvd/. This will
allow you to backup with Volume Shadow Copy directly to DVD.