SQL Backup in conjunction with other backup software

A_J_AA_J_A Posts: 4
edited February 25, 2015 11:57AM in SQL Backup Previous Versions
I'll refer to SQL Backup pro as SBP so as not to confuse with native SQL Server backups.

We currently use Symantec NetBackup for server-level backup. How does SBP Backup work in conjunction with server-level backup? Would I leave the complete nightly server backup through NetBackup in place, and treat backups from SBP completely separate? If we did a server-level NetBackup restore, that would bring SQL Server back to the state it was at the time of the backup, which may be okay in certain situations. However, if I need to do a point-in-time SQL restore, I could just restore through SBP after the NetBackup restore?

I get nervous with the NetBackup backups because the disk seems to get quiesced during the backup. So, in the SQL backup history tables (msdb.dbo.backupset and msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily), I see backup records interspersed with my native SQL Backups. Will SBP be able to recover to any point before or after the NetBackup recovery, assuming that the transaction log backups are available? Or will it get confused by the backup records generated by NetBackup?

Thank you!
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  • peteypetey Posts: 2,358 New member
    I see backup records interspersed with my native SQL Backups.
    In the msdb..backupset table, what type of backups are recorded as performed by NetBackup?
    Peter Yeoh
    SQL Backup Consultant Developer
    Associate, Yohz Software
    Beyond compression - SQL Backup goodies under the hood, updated for version 8
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  • A_J_AA_J_A Posts: 4
    petey wrote:
    I see backup records interspersed with my native SQL Backups.
    In the msdb..backupset table, what type of backups are recorded as performed by NetBackup?

    I have the following backup sequence, with the {59CC1199…. record being a Netbackup VMDK snapshot full backup, and the VNBU0…. record being a NetBackup SQL Server-level full backup. Other items are native SQL Server backups I am able to successfully restore from the initial native SQL backup (last item) up to any other transaction logs without a problem. There are no transaction log files that have an LSN matching the native FULL backup at the bottom, but I can use that FULL backup for some reason. This makes me nervous, but maybe this is normal. You can see that the transaction log chain bypasses the NetBackup full backups.

    FileName /BackupFinishTime /first_lsn /last_lsn
    Test__20150223203000.TRN / Feb 23 2015 8:30PM / 32000001083100001 / 32000001089400001
    Test__20150223193000.TRN /Feb 23 2015 7:30PM /32000001074900001 /32000001083100001
    {59CC1199… [VMDK Full] /Feb 23 2015 6:34PM /32000001075600038 /32000001077500001
    Test__20150223183000.TRN /Feb 23 2015 6:30PM /32000001065600001 /32000001074900001
    VNBU0-677… [NetBackup Full] /Feb 23 2015 6:04PM /32000001069600042 /32000001071400001
    Test__20150223173000.TRN /Feb 23 2015 5:30PM /32000001056100001 /32000001065600001
    Test__20150223170000.bak /Feb 23 2015 5:00PM /32000001060000042 /32000001061800001
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  • peteypetey Posts: 2,358 New member
    Since the snapshot backups are logged as full backups, it will only affect any subsequent differential backups. Your transaction log restore chain is still unbroken, as long as you have a full backup, and all subsequent log backups made after that full backup, available.
    Peter Yeoh
    SQL Backup Consultant Developer
    Associate, Yohz Software
    Beyond compression - SQL Backup goodies under the hood, updated for version 8
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  • A_J_AA_J_A Posts: 4
    petey wrote:
    Since the snapshot backups are logged as full backups, it will only affect any subsequent differential backups. Your transaction log restore chain is still unbroken, as long as you have a full backup, and all subsequent log backups made after that full backup, available.

    To make sure I understand you - If I took a full backup a month ago, and have had a hundred full backups and transaction log backups since then, I could still restore by restoring the initial backup, and all transaction logs after that (without needing any fulll backups in between)? (I do not use differential backups)
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  • peteypetey Posts: 2,358 New member
    Yes, that is correct. A full backup does not break the transaction log restore chain in any way.
    Peter Yeoh
    SQL Backup Consultant Developer
    Associate, Yohz Software
    Beyond compression - SQL Backup goodies under the hood, updated for version 8
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