Backup Agent for SQL Server ?

We perform full backup every night and then copy the BAK files to tape.
The backup vendor suggests us purchasing backup agent for SQL Server. We
would like to know what is the advantage of those agents ?
What will happen if we don't use the backup agent but just copy the MDF file
?
Thanks> The backup vendor suggests us purchasing backup agent for SQL Server. We
> would like to know what is the advantage of those agents ?
A SQL Server backup agent provides centralized administration of SQL Server
backups and backup media. A SQL Server backup agent is usually an ad-on to
a general backup solution and can integrate with other backups as well to
facilitate administration and management.

> What will happen if we don't use the backup agent but just copy the MDF
> file ?
Copying database files (mdf, ndf, ldf) directly cannot be done while the SQL
Server service is running. If you copy these without an agent, you have no
integrity and the copies are useless for recovery.
Your current approach (BACKUP DATABASE and copy to tape) is fine and allows
you to quickly restore (assume the disk backup file is available) and also
allows you store tape backups off-site for archive or disaster recovery
purposes. The downside is that you need to have additional disk space
available for the disk backups, although third party tools are available for
backup compression.
Hope this helps.
Dan Guzman
SQL Server MVP
"Peter" <Peter@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:Ouj0YWD0HHA.3772@.TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> We perform full backup every night and then copy the BAK files to tape.
>

> What will happen if we don't use the backup agent but just copy the MDF
> file ?
> Thanks
>|||In article <Ouj0YWD0HHA.3772@.TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl>,
Peter@.discussions.microsoft.com says...
> We perform full backup every night and then copy the BAK files to tape.
> The backup vendor suggests us purchasing backup agent for SQL Server. We
> would like to know what is the advantage of those agents ?
> What will happen if we don't use the backup agent but just copy the MDF fi
le
> ?
> Thanks
>
>
Just to add to Dan's comments. We run BackupExec here, but the same
issue applies to any backup program. Databases present a special case
because they are in effect always open, which means that a "normal"
backup will not see them -- it cannot get the exclusive control needed
to allow the backup to happen. So in essence what add-on products such
as Exchange Agent, Sql Agent, Advanced Open File Option (all from
Symantec for Backup Exec) do is to track the changes being made during
the backup and effectively merge them in. Often the Volume Copy Shadow
service is involved. If you look at the messages in the sql log and
agent log from around the time your backup runs, you should see some
events related to databases you did not know even existed that you might
find interesting.
The backup to disk and then to tape works fine. Just be sure to time
coordinate with your backup solution or recovery may get messy
--
Graham (Pete) Berry
PeteBerry@.Caltech.edu