Newbie backup question

Hi, am really new to all of this, so please be gentle. :)

On computer A (the server) I have SBS2k3 with SQL server 2k. On computer B (the workstation) I have MS Office/Access. I have created a couple of access projects on the workstation that have tables, stored procedures, etc.. in a couple of database on the server. Now I need some kind of backup plan.

I backup the Access projects on removable USB drives plugged into the workstation. I'd like to do scheduled backups of the databases on the server and also copy those backups to the USB drives on the workstation.

I've read that I can use Enterprise manager on the server to do scheduled backups to any drive on the server. I figure if I do that to a shared folder on the server that I can then copy that backup via the workstation and save a copy of it to the USB drive on the workstation.

1 - Do you see any problems with this scheme?

2 - Does the backup from enterprise manager really back everything up (table structures, stored procedures, etc...)?

3 - Assuming that I cycle between onsite and offsite USB drives on the workstation, if the place burned down and I had to rebuild the machines from scratch, is the backup saved to the USB drive mentioned above going to contain everything I need to recreate my databases on new blank hardware (after a fresh install of SBS2k3 and SQL server, of course)?there are many ways of doing this.
1. create a shared on the serverA (i.e. c:\shared -> \\serverA\shared)
2. create a sql job to backup your db:
backup database [your_db]
to disk 'c:\shared\your_db.bak'
with init
3. on your workstation, you can just create a windows schedule to connect to \\serverA\shared and copy the backup.

In general, I think it's a bad idea to try to schedule a backup job on the server to backup to your workstation usb drive. This can be done but is not really reliable. You have a regular backup job on the server and do copy/pull of the backup file as needed.|||Thanks.

No, I wasn't planning to schedule a task on the server to backup directly to the workstation's USB drive. I figured I'd do that manually from the workstation, since I don't always have one of the USB drives turned on. But I was planning to do a scheduled backup on the server to a folder on the server. (probably in the middle of the night)

> backup database [your_db]
> to disk 'c:\shared\your_db.bak'
> with init

So, that will backup everything, including the table structures and stored procedures, so the database can be recreated on a different computer in addition to being able to restore on the same one?|||The BAK file should contain everything. However, you shouldn't take anyone here's word for it. Create a backup of "DatabaseName", then take that BAK file and restore it to "NewDatabaseName". See if the restored database contains what you want. You can delete it after that, but then you'll know for sure what you'll get.

Newbie Alert: Amending all client workstation ODBC's

Hi All,
Newbie question for you all, sorry. I'm currently migrating my DB's to a
new SQL 2000 server and am wondering if there's any way of centrally
changing the ODBC settings of all my workstations? I really don't want to
have the support guys visit each machine in turn and do this manually.
Any advice gratefully received.
Orb.
The ODBC aliases are stored within the registry. Assuming that you are just
changing a server name or IP address of the currently configured database
server you should be able to create a .reg file that your users can "run"
within the logon script.
There is one issue with this method: The users have to have the ability to
write to that part of the registry.
Keith Kratochvil
"Orbital" <sian.clarke@.newhamhealth.nhs.uk> wrote in message
news:eto7MV0TGHA.4952@.TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi All,
> Newbie question for you all, sorry. I'm currently migrating my DB's to a
> new SQL 2000 server and am wondering if there's any way of centrally
> changing the ODBC settings of all my workstations? I really don't want to
> have the support guys visit each machine in turn and do this manually.
>
> Any advice gratefully received.
> Orb.
>
|||Hi Keith,
Thanks for replying. I thought this might be the case, I just wondered if I
was missing any fancy enterprise tools which would do this for me ;o)
Many Thanks,
Orb.
"Keith Kratochvil" <sqlguy.back2u@.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:%23tn$eu0TGHA.5332@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> The ODBC aliases are stored within the registry. Assuming that you are
> just changing a server name or IP address of the currently configured
> database server you should be able to create a .reg file that your users
> can "run" within the logon script.
> There is one issue with this method: The users have to have the ability
> to write to that part of the registry.
> --
> Keith Kratochvil
>
> "Orbital" <sian.clarke@.newhamhealth.nhs.uk> wrote in message
> news:eto7MV0TGHA.4952@.TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>
|||We used .reg files in my last shop to update DSNs when needed. This method
worked great!
Keith Kratochvil
"Orbital" <sian.clarke@.newhamhealth.nhs.uk> wrote in message
news:esSsqa1TGHA.4900@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Hi Keith,
> Thanks for replying. I thought this might be the case, I just wondered if
> I was missing any fancy enterprise tools which would do this for me ;o)
>
> Many Thanks,
> Orb.
>
> "Keith Kratochvil" <sqlguy.back2u@.comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:%23tn$eu0TGHA.5332@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>