Restoring a SQL Server database after a disaster is one of the most important jobs of a systems administrator (sa). But recovery often receives less attention than its companion operation, backup. Most competent administrators know they need to regularly back up the company's mission-critical data. So, to make sure it gets finished—and because making backups is usually a straightforward operation—they assign the job of backing up to a novice member of the administration team. And there's nothing wrong with having novice SQL Server administrators perform backups as long as they use a consistent procedure.

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