Image Copy vs. Backup Sets (Used in incremental backup strategy)
I currently take a full backup of a 100+ GB database every night. It runs for about 3.5 hours and may be causing slow response for OLTP users. The backup creates compressed backup sets. To reduce the execution time of the backups, I am considering switching to incremental backups and using block change tracking. I have a few questions about that switch.
If I run a level 0 incremental backup, then a level 1 cumulative backup and have it update the files created by the level 0, do I have the option of having the level 0 create either compressed backup sets or image copies? If the level 0 wrote image copies, can those copies be made online or must the database be shutdown then made available with startup mount or left shutdown for a cold backup? (My database needs to be available 24 x 7.)