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SQL backup on Cluster shared drive or Local drive.

  • August 19, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    #276296

    I have a SQL server 2008 r2 cluster enviroment. Due to space constraints on the storage drive i

    had to move the backups from the shared storage drive to the local sql server. Now my server team has given me adequate space on the shared drive but from a best practice point of view i do not know whether it's better to keep the backups on shared drive or on the respective nodes local drive itself.

    Any suggestions ?

  • August 19, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    #1642943

    The shared drive is normally some pretty expensive high speed hardware. I'd rather put the backups on a simple and much less expensive network share somewhere. A couple of iSCSI drives in a separate rack will normally do. And, no... I'd never put the backups on a local drive on a cluster node because, if the cluster flops to the other node, you might not be able to get to the backups anymore.

    --Jeff Moden

    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • August 20, 2013 at 7:03 am

    #1643055

    Not that Jeff's answer needs reinforcement, it sure can't hurt to repeat the fact that backing up to a local drive through some automated process (I assuming you're automating your backups) is likely to either fail when the cluster fails over, or, as Jeff said, you won't be able to retrieve needed backups after the fail over. Don't do that.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

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