Mirroring Vs Multiplexing

[gvvenkat]

Hi,
I am formulating a backup strategy for our production database. Ideally, I would like to have more than one hard disk, so that I can multiplex control files, online log files and archived log files.
But, the production box has only ONE hard disk which is MIRRORED.
Now , the question is - is it better to insist on multiple hard disks for multiplexing or the mirroring would safegaurd the disk against any media failures.
Please share your experience with me.

Regards,
VJ

[grjohnson]

If you are mirroring, your using two disks anyway. You just can't see it at an applicaiton level. Hardware mirroring is the quickest and most efficeint type of mirroring.

Cheers,

[marist89]

Multiplexing is a logical duplication whereas mirroring is a physical mirroring at the OS.

In a production database, having some redundant protection for your data files is mandatory. On the other hand, logical duplicates will help protect your database as well.

If you only have two disks, I would mirror them and multiplex your files on the same disk. This way, you get the best of both worlds. (You will have I/O contention problems, but your data will be protected.)