Robert Davis (6/18/2009)
I would like to say that the part below is not correct. A tail log backup is not a normal backup. to perform a tail log backup, you have to use the NoRecovery option on the backup log command. And when you do a tail log backup, it leaves the database in a restoring state so the database is not online any more. You don't have to take it offline.Perform a final Transaction Log backup on the old server (this is called the tail log backup), and then take the database offline if it is a shared server
Robert,
Thanks, I learned something new from this. Fundamentally they are doing the same thing if the application is not running and accessing the database, but you are correct that the more appropriate way of doing it would be to use the NORECOVERY option of BACKUP LOG (I didn't know this was there until I read your response and I'll have to go play with it in a bit).
Jonathan Kehayias | Principal Consultant | MCM: SQL Server 2008
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