In addition to backing up master regularly, keep offline copies of the contents of the following system tables: sysdatabases, sysdevices, sysusages, sysloginroles, and syslogins. Do this by using the bcp utility described in the Utility Guide, and by storing a printed copy of the contents of each system table. You can create a printed copy by printing the output of the following queries:
select * from sysusages order by vstart select * from sysdatabases select * from sysdevices select * from sysloginroles select * from syslogins
If you have copies of these tables, and a hard disk crash or some other disaster makes your database unusable, you can use the recovery procedures described in Chapter 13, “Restoring the System Databases,” in System Administration Guide: Volume 2.
You should also keep copies of all data definition language (DDL) scripts for user objects, as described under “Keeping records”.
