Guidelines for protecting database files
Published : April 8, 2005 | Updated : August 17, 2005
You cannot use Data Protection Manager (DPM) to protect databases in a connected environment. A connected environment is one in which a user or an application is continuously connected to the database. However, you can protect database data at regular intervals by exporting the data to a flat file and then protecting the flat file.
When protecting databases, you should follow these guidelines:
Use the database software to export the database into a flat file at regularly scheduled intervals.
Create a batch file to copy the flat database file to a data source on a file server that is protected by DPM.
Caution
If you export the file directly to the protected data source, make sure to coordinate the synchronization schedule for this protection group with your export schedule. The export must be completed before each synchronization job runs. If synchronization runs before the export is complete, a partial file will be copied and you will not be able to recover the database from the resulting shadow copy.
Add the data source that contains the flat database file to a protection group, if it has not been added already.
Following these guidelines will allow you to recover the database “as a snapshot” by recovering a shadow copy from the DPM server.