Is it necessary to exclude the \data folder when using NetBackup?

I am not a big fan of paying 3rd party backup vendors for
agents, but I need to make sure that we are not risking
corrupting the database files. I have setup maintenance
plans to do the fulls and log backups to disk. We are just
beginning to roll out NetBackup 5.0 in production, and
without the SQL agent installed, it appears as though it
can backup all the data files without error. Should I
exclude the "hot files" in NetBackup, and rely on the bak
and trn files if I need to restore the whole server?
Meaning, if my prod server died, and I needed to restore
from tape to a hotspare, is it possible to restore the
database(s) if the mssql\data\*.mdf and ldf files are not
restored?
If this is a lame question, I apologize, as I am not a
DBA, but a storage guy, and we have no official SQL DBA's
in house yet.
Thanks for any and all help!
DaveYes, you want to avoid trying to back up the mdf and ldf files and instead
just back up the native SQL backup files (trn/bak) to tape. You would use
these to restore the database. BOL has plenty of detail on backup and
restore in the Administering SQL Server>Backing Up and Restoring Databases
section
HTH
Jasper Smith (SQL Server MVP)
I support PASS - the definitive, global
community for SQL Server professionals -
http://www.sqlpass.org
"Dave" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:288a01c3fc84$cf4b5850$a101280a@.phx.gbl...
> I am not a big fan of paying 3rd party backup vendors for
> agents, but I need to make sure that we are not risking
> corrupting the database files. I have setup maintenance
> plans to do the fulls and log backups to disk. We are just
> beginning to roll out NetBackup 5.0 in production, and
> without the SQL agent installed, it appears as though it
> can backup all the data files without error. Should I
> exclude the "hot files" in NetBackup, and rely on the bak
> and trn files if I need to restore the whole server?
> Meaning, if my prod server died, and I needed to restore
> from tape to a hotspare, is it possible to restore the
> database(s) if the mssql\data\*.mdf and ldf files are not
> restored?
> If this is a lame question, I apologize, as I am not a
> DBA, but a storage guy, and we have no official SQL DBA's
> in house yet.
> Thanks for any and all help!
> Dave
>
>|||Yes, I was planning on keeping the maintenance plan. I was
not sure if it is possible to restore the trn\bak files if
real SQL server datafiles were not restored (ie excluding
the \data\*.* in NetBackup policy). Is there some command
line you can run to start SQL enough to restore the files?
I've looked in the online help, but I must be missing the
obvious. What is BOL?
thanks!

>--Original Message--
>Yes, you want to avoid trying to back up the mdf and ldf
files and instead
>just back up the native SQL backup files (trn/bak) to
tape. You would use
>these to restore the database. BOL has plenty of detail
on backup and
>restore in the Administering SQL Server>Backing Up and
Restoring Databases
>section
>--
>HTH
>Jasper Smith (SQL Server MVP)
>I support PASS - the definitive, global
>community for SQL Server professionals -
>http://www.sqlpass.org
>
>"Dave" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message
>news:288a01c3fc84$cf4b5850$a101280a@.phx.gbl...
for
just
bak
not
DBA's
>
>.
>|||> Is there some command
> line you can run to start SQL enough to restore the files?
?
When you do a RESTORE in SQL Server, the database is created, if it doesn't
exists. If a system database is broken, you need to use REBUILDM.EXE to
create new system databases so that you can start SQL Server and then do the
restore. If the whole installation is toast, you need to install SQL Server
first instead. :-)
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
Archive at:
http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=...ublic.sqlserver
"Dave" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2ad501c3fcb0$61c267c0$a001280a@.phx.gbl...
> Yes, I was planning on keeping the maintenance plan. I was
> not sure if it is possible to restore the trn\bak files if
> real SQL server datafiles were not restored (ie excluding
> the \data\*.* in NetBackup policy). Is there some command
> line you can run to start SQL enough to restore the files?
> I've looked in the online help, but I must be missing the
> obvious. What is BOL?
> thanks!
>
> files and instead
> tape. You would use
> on backup and
> Restoring Databases
> message
> for
> just
> bak
> not
> DBA's