On a quarterly basis I need to refresh a 20 GB database copy with production
data. To Do this what's the best method.
1. Back up the production database and restore with a different name. If I
restore it on to the same server and during the operational hours, what are
the performance issues ( retore is a very resource intensitive)? Any
problems with creating a job to schedule this?

2. At the same time if I restore it on to a 3 month old copy without
deleting the copy, what are the implications.?

3. Any other alternatives (fast restore or copy)?

Thanks in Advance
BVR

[quoted text, click to view]

No problems. Totally automatic, to be scheduled at a time after
the standard backup has completed at end of Q period and before
that backup leaves the production environment.

Any task which can be automated out of hours may be correctly
defined as resource consuming if it is lazily allowed to be run during
the standard production hours.

My philosophy is to aim to place everything possible on a common
overnight process queue. Additionally there could be ad hoc tasks,
weekly tasks, monthly tasks, quarterly, annual tasks, etc on that
same task queue.



[quoted text, click to view]

If the task is performed overnight on a queue, at the appropriate point
in time while the source production backup file exists, then the runtime
element is only the restore time. The implications should be academic,
however I guess this depends on how much grunt you've got to push
around that 20Gb. ;-)


[quoted text, click to view]

Keep it simple ... I think you have all the
alternatives covered.




Pete Brown
Falls Creek
Oz

Another choice is just to detach/attach the database and for that you work
directly with the DB files


--
Horatiu Ripa

[quoted text, click to view]