1. In a database mirroring system that includes a principal database and a mirror database, a method for detecting failover comprising: determining the time of the most recent backup of the principal database; determining the time of the most recent backup of the mirror database; comparing the time of the most recent backup of the principal database to the time of the most recent backup of the mirror database to determine if the mirror database was backed up most recently; and establishing that failover has occurred if the mirror database is the database that was backed up most recently.