SQL Yearly Backup

[GregE]

I've been asked to setup an SQL db backup that will occur every year at the end of the fiscal year, and it will only require retaining for 1 year from its backup date. So the simple thought was to bind it to a management class with a one year retainonly value and be done.

BUT, then it occurred to me................since I am only running this backup once a year, the first backup does not go inactive until the next backup a full year later, so at that point the first backup has already been retained for a full year, meeting my requirements, and will now be on the expiration clock for an additional year and actually exist in backup storage for TWO years, unless I instead bind it to a short retainonly (7-10 days max), so that when the Year 2 backup occurs, the Year 1 backup inactivates and is gone a few days later, instead of remaining for an additional entire year.

Is this a normal method of handling it? The only risk I see is that if a backup is run before the next schedule then we lose the previous end of year backup before the next end of year backup happens.

Also been asked to setup a quarterly backup and only retain it for 90 days. Same situation as the yearly, more often.

[Trident]

I make a seperate node for yearly backups (and monthly).

[GregE]

Yep that's what I'm doing.