7 - Database Backup Security

Abstract

Some of the primary responsibilities of any database backup security (DBA) are to secure the data, while maintaining the ability to keep the system up and running, and having the ability to restore the data as needed so that the system can be restored quickly in the event of a failure. To accomplish this, security best practices need to be followed not just in the production environment but within the back solution as well. This chapter discusses the best ways to best secure the database backups. On the native function side, Microsoft began introducing compression in Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and native encryption with transparent data encryption was introduced in Microsoft SQL Server 2008. When using older versions of Microsoft SQL Server, one needs to use a third-party solution to encrypt the backup solution. It is important to check with the backup solution provider to see what options are available to one based on the version of Microsoft SQL Server. As Microsoft takes care of all the database backups, the backup options discussed in the chapter are handled by Microsoft and not Microsoft's customer.