Mission Critical: SQL Server 2008 General Maintenance

There is nothing that beats a simple checklist for ensuring that things don't get forgotten in the Database Maintenance process. Once again, Buck Woody imagines how the US military would have tackled DBA checklists for 'mission-critical' databases.

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CTL10.02.001

Revision 09/21/2009 A

SQL Server 2OO8

General Maintenance

CRITICAL TASK LIST PROGRAM

This document contains steps that will assist you in the day-to-day SQL Server 2008 RTM Enterprise Edition (non-clustered) operations. It defines the basics of standard maintenance and checks for a single Instance of SQL Server 2008, and should be used as a starting point.

Review each item, placing a check in the “Confirmed” column when the task line is complete. Any line not marked “Confirmed” should stop the process until you have completed that line item.

This CTL is not meant to be a replacement for the official documentation from the product manufacturer.  

CTL NUMBER

This Critical Task List is identified by a CTL number in the upper right-hand side of this document. You should use the latest CTL (identified by the date and an alpha-numeric code.

HOW TO BE ASSURED OF HAVING LATEST DATA

You can add additional information to this checklist based on your organization’s need.

CONTENT

Critical Task List 10.02.001All content is the sole responsibility of the server owner; Microsoft Corporate provides no warranties implied or implicit in this document. This document is not a product of the Microsoft Corporation. 

SUPPLEMENTS

Official Site Link: http://www.simple-talk.com/author/buck-woody/

Whenever you receive a supplement affecting your checklist, write in the appropriate information. Printed replacement checklist pages will be made available to you as quickly as possible. A notation on the bottom inside corner of these pages will indicate that they reflect certain supplements.

COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Comments and questions should be directed through buck.woody@microsoft.com Critical Task Lists Managers

Buck Woody “Real World DBA”(MSFT U.S.).

Frequency

Task

References

Confirmed

Post-Installation

Server and Database Settings Configured for Environment.

http://bit.ly/H6z28

http://bit.ly/1zwba

Latest Service Packs Installed.

http://bit.ly/196VzN

Database Mail Configured and Tested.

http://bit.ly/8uEUn

http://bit.ly/RR9xt

Maintenance Wizard or other Automated Maintenance Implemented.

http://bit.ly/16nhdL

http://bit.ly/Uqoyh

Baseline Performance Metrics Created and Archived.

 http://bit.ly/gVyI0

Daily

Backups Checked.

http://bit.ly/2Ihz0f

Windows Event Logs Reviewed.

http://bit.ly/1uGRe

SQL Server Error Logs Reviewed.

http://bit.ly/2Gk967

Drive Space Checked.

http://bit.ly/3mdRPj

Jobs History Reviewed.

http://bit.ly/1gm4qM

Backups Taken.

http://bit.ly/sKgwj

Indexes Updated.

http://bit.ly/7wpHx

Statistics Updated.

http://bit.ly/3XGBKA

Weekly

Indexes Reviewed.

http://bit.ly/2DpOMR

Long-Running Queries Reviewed

http://bit.ly/45RCm

Data Archival Performed.

http://bit.ly/sKgwj

Security Reviewed.

http://bit.ly/1asALb

Service Packs and OS Security Bulletins Evaluated and Applied.

http://bit.ly/q46L0

http://bit.ly/pAGp2

Monthly

Security Tests Performed.

http://bit.ly/119slV

New Performance Baseline Recorded.

http://bit.ly/gVyI0

Restore Tests Performed on Production Server to Backup Server.

http://bit.ly/4vG8s

Yearly

Performance Reviews Completed from Baseline Comparisons.

http://bit.ly/gVyI0

Growth Predictions Created from Baseline Metrics.

http://bit.ly/vWSqS

Instance Audit Performed.

http://bit.ly/12WPkh

Version Upgrade Plan Evaluated.

http://bit.ly/e5MIy