• DRAFT – discussion and input welcome

• Database Categories

• Categorization reflects intended use of database; mirrors cyclical nature of application development

• Category doesn’t change—support levels do

• Levels of Support

• Changes from installation to final intended use of the database
• Reflects response time; extent of monitoring
• Backup strategies vary per database

DATABASE CATEGORIES
 

PRODUCTION – A production database will be used for fully working database applications and will house only "real" data.

INTEGRATION – An integration database will be used for testing pre-production database applications. Occasionally, the integration instance may be refreshed with production data.

DEVELOPMENT – A development database will be used for database and application development, testing of database features, as well as housing repositories for Designer2000.
 

LEVELS OF SUPPORT

Server Installation – database is either being installed or scheduled to be installed. Initial backup of installation is performed if resources are available.

Limited Support – effort will be made to keep the instance running and backups are provided as determined by agreement with database administrators on a per-instance basis.

Medium Availability – 8 x 5 support is provided. This includes keeping the instance available and performing and monitoring nightly backups. The instance is monitored for alerts, performance problems, and growth patterns.

High Availability – 24 x 7 support is provided. This includes keeping the instance available and performing and monitoring nightly backups. Hot backups are provided as determined by agreement with database administrators on a per-instance basis. The instance is monitored closely for alerts, performance problems, and growth patterns.
 
 

Sample
 

Database Name	Category	Current Support Level	Backups
dev1	development	installation	initial
dev2	development	limited	weekly (to tape)
int1	integration	medium availability	daily (to tape)
prod1	production	medium availability	daily (to tape)
prod2	production	high availability	daily (hot), weekly (to tape)