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I have a SQL Database that is running 15 minute backups to a folder on the local disk. I also have a maintenance task in SQL Server that's automatically deleting any backups that are over 1 hour old. The backup folder is exposed across a network share to a second server on a cross-over cable.

Okay on server number 2 I need a way to sync the folder shared on the database server (i.e. the one containing the rolling 15 min backups) to a local folder. This will completely isolate the files away from server 1 to give me some recovery options should server 1 fail.

Can anyone recommend a light weight folder syncing application to run on server 2 so that I can mirror the contents of the network folder to a local folder? Kind of like Dropbox but between a local folder and a network share.

So far I've tied myself in knots writing a DOS command file to copy across the new files and delete the old ones. I've tried to hook it up to a Task Scheduler but am running into endless permission problems. The actual command file runs perfectly when manually invoked, but automating it is proving difficult.

UPDATE ---------------

I have now solved this problem by backing up directly to the network share. I was having trouble with this previously due to the the Network Service account not recognising the share address. In the end I solved it using the method here: http://www.howtogeek.com/51788/how-to-backup-sql-databases-to-a-network-share/

QFDev
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  • Why not configure the backup to backup to a shared folder on server 2 and eliminate the middle man altogether? – joeqwerty Jul 22 '13 at 15:24
  • That's exactly what I've now done. I had some permissions issues at first but all I needed to do was to change the windows service to use the Administrator account and the backups got created without a problem. – QFDev Jul 22 '13 at 16:47

1 Answers1

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The simplest, lightest-weight method would probably to use robocopy with a scheduled task. Permissions should be relatively straightforward as long as you give RC the right credentials and make sure the user has both NTFS and fileshare-level access to the folder.

If you're running Active Directory, a DFS Replication Group would be also quite easy to configure.

There are various third-party solutions as well, but either of the above is simple to set up as well as lightweight.

Finally, you could just backup to a share on the secondary server itself, rather than adding a replication technology.

If you're having trouble with your current scheduled task, it may be because cmd.exe does not have "run as batch job" permissions by default.

phoebus
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  • I'll checkout RC. Some other tools I checked looked great but only work if the application is running. Writing the backups directly to a network also proved to be somewhat problematic as the SQL agent couldn't see the network folder. I've heard RC mentioned elsewhere so will check this out first...thanks! – QFDev Jul 22 '13 at 15:35