This series of blog posts are related to my presentation, The Top Ten Skills You Need, which is scheduled for a few deliveries in 2011.

1. Backups

The first skill that you really need is the ability to back up a database. No matter what else you can do, or others will do, if you have backups, you can recover from issues.

The is the first thing you should do with a new database. Make a backup if there isn’t one, and create a new schedule. Even if you haven’t added any objects or data, just setup a backup schedule. It’s easy to put off, and forget. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into a developer or DBA that is looking to recover a database and doesn’t have backups.

Backups are insurance. Just like you have Geico, or Aviva, or any other insruance company in case of situations like this:

You never know when this will happen, so you have to be prepared. In the database world, part of your preparation is having a backup.

Even if you don’t know how to do a restore, make sure you have a backup. You can always find someone to help you with a restore, but another person can’t help you with a restore without a backup file.

Learn how to use the Backup T-SQL command.