To simplify administration, you can set up a maintenance plan for your database that is executed automatically by the database server. A maintenance plan consists of a schedule for performing one or more of the following tasks:

• validating the database
• backing up the database
• managing maintenance plan reports

In Sybase Central you create a maintenance plan by using the Create Maintenance Plan Wizard. Only one instance of a maintenance plan can run at a time. Each time the maintenance plan runs, a maintenance plan report is saved in the database. You can view this report from Sybase Central and optionally you can have the maintenance plan report emailed to you after the maintenance plan executes on the database.

Customizing maintenance plans

Maintenance plans can contain user-defined operations. In the Create Maintenance Plan Wizard you can add user-defined operations as SQL statements that run either before validation or after backup.