backup strategy question

I appologize if this question seems too basic but I need some advice
On one of the SQL servers I manage, I do backups on disk. I need to keep a
historyof backups for at least several weeks.
I currently do full backups twice a week, differential backup on days that I
don't do full backup and transaction log backup every 10 minutes (this is
for a high traffic DB).
If I replace the current backup with every new full backup, then I can't
keep a history of backups but if I keep on appending, my backup files get
huge.
How can I configure my backups to keep only, let say, 3 weeks of backups?
Can that be done all in SQL server or will I have to write scripts outside
of SQL server to archive backup files?
Thanks for your helpHi, you can modify the time expiration of your backups and configure the
files like non overwrite.
Bye
"Benoit Martin" wrote:

> I appologize if this question seems too basic but I need some advice
> On one of the SQL servers I manage, I do backups on disk. I need to keep a
> historyof backups for at least several weeks.
> I currently do full backups twice a week, differential backup on days that
I
> don't do full backup and transaction log backup every 10 minutes (this is
> for a high traffic DB).
> If I replace the current backup with every new full backup, then I can't
> keep a history of backups but if I keep on appending, my backup files get
> huge.
> How can I configure my backups to keep only, let say, 3 weeks of backups?
> Can that be done all in SQL server or will I have to write scripts outside
> of SQL server to archive backup files?
> Thanks for your help
>
>|||Thanks John,
when you talk about modifying the time of expiration of the backup, are you
talking about the "Backup set will expire:" section under the "options" tab
when adding a new backup?
If that's the case, this option is available only when I choose to overwrite
the existing media which go against your second advice which was not to
overwrite.
Am I missing something?
PS: in case it matters, I forgot to mention that I am using SQL Server 2000
Thanks
"John Bocachica" <John Bocachica@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EDF7465B-0A19-4D6A-B1AE-C51358A24F4E@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hi, you can modify the time expiration of your backups and configure the
> files like non overwrite.
> Bye
>
> "Benoit Martin" wrote:
>
a[vbcol=seagreen]
that I[vbcol=seagreen]
is[vbcol=seagreen]
get[vbcol=seagreen]
backups?[vbcol=seagreen]
outside[vbcol=seagreen]|||You can not use the expiration dates in the fashion that you want. When you
append backups to the same device (file) you have an all or nothing
situation when it comes to deleting old backups. You can not delete or
overwrite individual backups from a single device. You are best served by
creating a new backup file each time and either deleting them by their
timestamp at the file level or by naming them with a convention that will
allow you to tell when they expire. You should seriously consider using SQL
LiteSpeed for your backups. It will not only speed them up but same a lot
of disk space. http://www.imceda.com/
But here is some code examples to backup to a different file each night and
some code to remove older backups.
-- Do a backup and create a separate file for each day of the
eek --
DECLARE @.DBName NVARCHAR(50), @.Device NVARCHAR(100), @.Name NVARCHAR(100)
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#DBs') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE #DBs
CREATE TABLE #DBs ([name] VARCHAR(50),[db_size] VARCHAR(20),
[Owner] VARCHAR(20),[DBID] INT, [Created] VARCHAR(14),
[Status] VARCHAR(1000), [Compatibility_Level] INT)
INSERT INTO #DBs EXEC sp_helpdb
DECLARE cur_DBs CURSOR STATIC LOCAL
FOR SELECT [Name]
FROM #DBs
WHERE [DBID] IN (5,6)
OPEN cur_DBs
FETCH NEXT FROM cur_DBs INTO @.DBName
WHILE @.@.FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
SET @.Device = N'C:\Backups\DD_' + @.DBName + '_Full_' +
CAST(DAY(GETDATE()) AS NVARCHAR(4)) +
CAST(MONTH(GETDATE()) AS NVARCHAR(4)) +
CAST(YEAR(GETDATE()) AS NVARCHAR(8)) + N'.BAK'
SET @.Name = @.DBName + N' Full Backup'
BACKUP DATABASE @.DBName TO DISK = @.Device WITH INIT , NOUNLOAD ,
NAME = @.Name, NOSKIP , STATS = 10, NOFORMAT
RESTORE VERIFYONLY FROM DISK = @.Device WITH FILE = 1
FETCH NEXT FROM cur_DBs INTO @.DBName
END
CLOSE cur_DBs
DEALLOCATE cur_DBs
----
-- Removing Older Backup Files --
DECLARE @.Error INT, @.D DATETIME
SET @.D = CAST('20020801 15:00:00' AS DATETIME)
EXEC @.Error = remove_old_log_files @.D
SELECT @.Error
----
-- *** Procedure to remove old backups **** --
CREATE PROCEDURE remove_old_log_files
@.DelDate DATETIME
AS
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE @.SQL VARCHAR(500), @.FName VARCHAR(40), @.Error INT
DECLARE @.Delete VARCHAR(300), @.Msg VARCHAR(100), @.Return INT
SET DATEFORMAT MDY
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#dirlist') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE #DirList
CREATE TABLE #dirlist (FName VARCHAR(1000))
CREATE TABLE #Errors (Results VARCHAR(1000))
-- Insert the results of the dir cmd into a table so we can scan it
INSERT INTO #dirlist (FName)
exec master..xp_cmdshell 'dir /OD C:\Backups\*.trn'
SET @.Error = @.@.ERROR
IF @.Error <> 0
BEGIN
SET @.Msg = 'Error while getting the filenames with DIR '
GOTO On_Error
END
--SELECT * FROM #dirList
-- Remove the garbage
DELETE #dirlist WHERE
SUBSTRING(FName,1,2) < '00' OR
SUBSTRING(FName,1,2) > '99' OR
FName IS NULL
-- Create a cursor and for each file name do the processing.
-- The files will be processed in date order.
DECLARE curDir CURSOR READ_ONLY LOCAL
FOR
SELECT SUBSTRING(FName,40,40) AS FName
FROM #dirlist
WHERE CAST(SUBSTRING(FName,1,20) AS DATETIME) < @.DelDate
AND SUBSTRING(FName,40,40) LIKE '%.TRN'
OPEN curDir
FETCH NEXT FROM curDir INTO @.Fname
WHILE (@.@.fetch_status = 0)
BEGIN
-- Delete the old backup files
SET @.Delete = 'DEL "C:\Backups' + @.FName + '"'
INSERT INTO #Errors (Results)
exec master..xp_cmdshell @.Delete
IF @.@.RowCount > 1
BEGIN
SET @.Error = -1
SET @.Msg = 'Error while Deleting file ' + @.FName
GOTO On_Error
END
-- PRINT @.Delete
PRINT 'Deleted ' + @.FName + ' at ' +
CONVERT(VARCHAR(28),GETDATE(),113)
FETCH NEXT FROM curDir INTO @.Fname
END
CLOSE curDir
DEALLOCATE curDir
DROP TABLE #DirList
DROP TABLE #Errors
RETURN @.Error
On_Error:
BEGIN
IF @.Error <> 0
BEGIN
SELECT @.Msg + '. Error # ' + CAST(@.Error AS VARCHAR(10))
RAISERROR(@.Msg,12,1)
RETURN @.Error
END
END
GO
Andrew J. Kelly SQL MVP
"Benoit Martin" <benoit@.digitalmediums.com> wrote in message
news:e6sG0$ZgEHA.3428@.TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Thanks John,
> when you talk about modifying the time of expiration of the backup, are
you
> talking about the "Backup set will expire:" section under the "options"
tab
> when adding a new backup?
> If that's the case, this option is available only when I choose to
overwrite
> the existing media which go against your second advice which was not to
> overwrite.
> Am I missing something?
> PS: in case it matters, I forgot to mention that I am using SQL Server
2000
> Thanks
> "John Bocachica" <John Bocachica@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message
> news:EDF7465B-0A19-4D6A-B1AE-C51358A24F4E@.microsoft.com...
keep[vbcol=seagreen]
> a
> that I
> is
can't[vbcol=seagreen]
> get
> backups?
> outside
>