[mythtv-users] REMINDER: Back Up Your Database.

[Stephen P. Villano]

On 12/31/13, 7:21 AM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 4:51 AM, Jay Ashworth <jra at baylink.com> wrote:
> .....
>> My Commercial Backup Rule:
>>
>> It's not "backed up", until it's on at least 4 pieces of media, in at
>> least 3 cities, in at least two states.
> If that is your rule, it is not yet backed up.
>
> It is not "backed up" until it has been tested with a restore.
>
> On a regular basis the backup *must* be restored to a
> (test) environment, and the contents validated.  Not every
> time, but on a regular basis to validate your process is working.
>
> I know of someone who was religious about running a backup
> job.  For years.  When the inevitable happened, they went to
> their backup tapes.  Nothing was on them.  The tapes had
> the write protect tab on.  They had not bothered to check the
> results of the backup job.  And had never tested a restore.
>
>
> As an aside, I would recommend (for a database) to not
> only backup the database, but to run maintenance jobs
> to validate the integrity, and update statistics on a
> regular basis.
> _______________________________________________
That's one thing I like about backup, the verify function that verifies
that the backup is written.

Some years ago, I was working on a restaurant computer. It was the
menu/ordering system for the entire establishment.
The HD had failed, along with the motherboard.
I was getting the new hardware online and asked the owner for his backups.
He said, "I don't need 'em".
I explained, "Well, *now* you do, as I can't restore your menus, prices
and staff accounts without a backup."
He had to manually re-enter every single bit of it.
Of course, he tried to complain that I didn't restore from magic or
something.
His account went into a special account group after, a much higher
support hourly rate group.