sql server maintence plans. What account to use?

Question

When setting up a maintenance plan specifically for backups, what account should you use as the owner. Currently we use the domain account that sql server runs as. Is this best practice or should we create a local account / domain account just to run jobs?

Answer 1

Since the jobs will run as your SQL Server Agent account, that's the way to go: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187658.aspx

It is a best practice to run your SQL Server engine and your Agent under different accounts however, the logic being if one account is locked or otherwise compromised, you aren't hurting the other. To change your Agent account: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191543.aspx