How to identify when a database was restored, the source of the backup and the date of the backup

After restoring a database your users will typically run some queries to verify the data is as expected. However, there are times when your users may question whether the restore was done using the correct backup file. In this tip I will show you how you can identify the file(s) that was used for the restore, when the backup actually occured and when the database was restored.

How to Backup and Restore a SQL Server FILESTREAM Enabled Database

Most SQL Server DBAs have questions about backing up and restoring FILESTREAM enabled databases. In this tip, we will take a look at the steps Database Administrators need to follow in order to perform a backup and restore of a FILESTREAM database.

COPY_ONLY Backups

What are COPY_ONLY backups and why do we care? New author Charles Kincaid walks us through the basics of how you can create one of these backups.

A Technical Case Study: Fast and Reliable Backup and Restore of Multi-Terabytes Database over the Network

Database sizes increase constantly, as do requirements for access and availability. At the same time, it is more important than ever to have a fast and reliable backup and recovery plan in place. This document discusses the challenges of designing a robust backup and restore solutions for very large databases (VLDBs). Using a real-world example, it demonstrates how to make the best use of the backup and restore features of SQL Server 2008 to help create a fast and reliable backup and restore plan for VLDBs over the network.

Backups daily monitoring

This script finds the last run status for Full / TL backups.

Validate SQL Server Backups Exist with Policy Based Management

I recently submitted a tip regarding the existence of your backup files using the undocumented system stored procedure xp_fileexist. But how would you go about executing that script against all your SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 instances? I took that script and decided to go one step further using Policy Based Management to create a custom policy that you can then run against all your SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 instances.

SQL Backup 6: Wind of Change

One could be forgiven for thinking that there's little more you can do with third-party backup software than just ...er... backup databases. Shawn McGehee gives us his personal take on the implications of the improvements that have been made to SQL Backup for version 6.

How SQL Server recovery models impact your SharePoint ...

SharePoint administrators can minimize data loss by selecting the appropriate SQL Server recovery model. But which model is right for your enterprise?

BACKUP / RESTORE

Backup and Restore Tables