ServiceDesk

Are there any disaster recovery plans for servicedesk that are effective?  I'm currently running my db in Full Recovery mode with no issues, but I'm told it's not a good idea.  But I was also told that even in Full Recovery mode, it's not possible to recover the database completely after a failure.

If I'm not mistaken there is a built in option for a mirrored db, but I was told it affects performance.  We use Double-Take here and I'm wondering if it will cause the same performance issues.

Any ideas on this topic?

You could use a clustered SQL server, then you have redundancy on the SQL Level and a nightly backup should be sufficient.

The ServiceDesk "mirror" or Replication Database is not meant for high availability, as the replication only runs on a schedule and you cannot simply just swap between the databases. The main idea of the Replication DB is to use it for reporting and archiving reasons. 

From what I understand when running in a clustered SQL environment you need to have a seperate SRS server if you would like to do any data analytics.  Just something to keep in mind.

the new Service Desk 7.1 sp2 doc has a great backup plan in it. page 185 - 209

What is REALLY scary is it looks like a database backup would not be enough!!! 

Thanks for pointing this out.  This document has the best detailed information I've seen on this topic yet.  If I'm reading it right, Symantec is basically recommending that ServiceDesk be down when you perform the backup??!!

I still think they need to put together a "Symantec Recommended" backup/restore procedure.  I'm still confused as to which data is really being protected and what I'm going to lose.  It doesn't seem like there is a guaranteed way to protect all your data.

in a clustered enviroment you would move the databse sideways and then replace a drive. 

that spot in the instructions was one of the better written chapters in the whole doc!