""Alan McDonald"" <alan@...> wrote in message
news:NBBBJKLIEJPCMJJOFDNPCEPEFFAA.alan@......

>
> >
> > We actually never do a backup restore unless something crashes.
> >
> >
>
> Surely this is too late? If you did a restore occasionally the crash may
> never happen. At least in my experience - If I leave the db alone for a
> year, I definitely get a call, I definitely loss data (some pages). If I
> restore I don't get that call. That's the way it's been with me since

1997.

>
> Again, maybe it's a left-over from previous versions but I always get a

good

> feeling in my stomach when I restore a large db with no errors. I do not

get

> a good feeling at all after a sweep. Makes me nervous.
>
> Alan

I have sites that still refuse to do a backup / backup and restore, some of
them have been running for > 5 years on the same DB. My main trouble is
that when they go pop, where do you start looking. Better to have a last
known good backup and restore of a month ago, so it all went wrong in the
last month.

I have had DB's that refuse to restore due to developers doing the
following:
Nullable -> No Null fields
shortening DB varchar fields
Huge indices

All of which have been caught by the monthly backup / restore cycle.

IB/FB is extremely stable, but that extra bit of attention certainly pays
dividends.

JAC.