I would highly recommend the book “Backup & Recovery” (O’Reilly Book) by W. Curtis Preston
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596102463/
Asking how to do your backup plan is kinda like asking 10 grandmothers how to make the best chicken noodle soup. You’ll get 10 different answers but all of them will agree on the basic ingredients.
In my opinion, Backup & Recovery does a pretty good job of talking about the strengths and weaknesses of different options you may (or may not) choose to implement.
So, that’s where I’d start first.