We currently have a number of SQL Server 2005 Standard edition instances which support an intranet and need to be integrated into our disaster recovery plan. I was hoping to use database mirroring, on the grounds that the description of this on the package made it out to fit the situation, but the price of SQL Server Enterprise edition has scuppered that. I'm merely a developer given a task out of my comfort zone, so I'm hoping that you guys could give me a steer in the right direction.
The RPO for the disaster recovery plan is unclear, but max of a couple of hours.
As far as I can see we have three options:
- A bit-level solution, whereby the whole server is replicated as a bit level.
- Database log shipping - could that work? Would it need a frequent backup schedule that would periodically kill intranet applications (which are in constant use)?
- Replication. This doesn't seem like the right kind of solution to me, but I guess that it could be put into effect with a large amount of effort.
Of these three, which seems best, given the there is a cost limitation? Are there other obvious options that I'm missing?
Many thanks for your help