3 Log Shipping Techniques
My new article for SQL Server Magazine titled 3 Log Shipping Techniques has been posted online and will appear in an upcoming print issue. This article is a look at some very interesting techniques that use log shipping in interesting ways. Mastering these tehcniques can save you a great deal of time and frustration. You will learn how log shipping can be a very useful tool. I wrap it up with a tale of how I combined these techniques to log ship and replicate a 2 TB database in less than 10 minutes.
The three log shipping techniques discussed in the article are:
- Reversing log shipping
- Converting both directions between log shipping and mirroring
- Converting log shipping to replication
Except from Article
3 Log Shipping Techniques
Save time and minimize downtime
Recent SQL Server releases have had a major focus on high availability. Early previews of the next release of SQL Server, code-named Denali, show that this trend will continue. Somewhere in the midst of the new availability technologies and feature sets, log shipping seems to have fallen by the wayside. Although log shipping received a much-needed face lift with SQL Server 2005, there were only minor enhancements in SQL Server 2008.
Although log shipping isn’t as widely used as it once was, it’s still a vital tool that has many applications, such as using warm standbys for disaster recovery, migrating large databases, and providing read-only access to data. Log shipping isn’t difficult to understand or use. There are three techniques that can save you a lot of time and make working with log shipping painless: reversing log shipping, switching between log shipping and database mirroring, and converting log shipping to transactional replication.
Reversing Log Shipping
Reversing log shipping is an often overlooked practice. When DBAs need to fail over to a secondary log shipping server, they tend to worry about getting log shipping back up later. This is especially true in the case of very large databases. If you’re using log shipping as your primary disaster recovery solution and you need to fail over to the secondary log shipping server, you should get log shipping running as quickly as possible. With no disaster recovery failover in place, you might be running exposed.
Reversing log shipping is simple. It doesn’t require reinitializing the database with a full backup if performed carefully. However, it’s crucial that you remember the following:
Continue reading: 3 Log Shipping Techniques
Meher
Very nice article Robert. Reverse Log shipping is interesting. Never tried that one.
Thanks
Meher
SQLSoldier
Thanks Meher! Yes, it is quite handy when you need to fail over to a log shipping secondary. Most don’t realize that you don’t have to reinitialize with new backups.
Meher
The Video is so useful. Just pointed it out to another friend who was looking for reinitalizing replication.
SQLSoldier
Thanks!
Abi
Robert,
Great article!! I wish i had these steps a year ago when i implemented log shipping and had to reverse it. Thanks for sharing.
SQLSoldier
Thanks Abi! Great to hear that it will be useful for you!