How To Restore Your Database From a SQL Backup

SQL Server backup is a critical component of any effective disaster recovery strategy. While that's great, properly setting up these backups to run seamlessly is also the goal. In this particular article, we will review the different types of restores, recommended practices for automatically setting up SQL Server restores on a regular schedule, and three different ways for securely and efficiently storing data in a SQL Server disaster recovery environment.

The Manual Restore

The most basic type of restore is the Manual Restore. In a Manual Restore, the SQL Server restores software uses the information stored on the backup file to perform the restoration. All database corruption is resolved, data is restored to the point that it was before the corruption occurred, and any additional transactions that were conducted during the backup are also performed. This type of restore is used whenever there is little risk to the SQL Server transaction log files.

The Full Database Backup

The next option is the full database backup. In a full database backup, the SQL Server restores software utilizes all of the data and all of the database roles contained in the database to restore the entire thing. The SQL Server rebuilds the database to the time it was saved using the full backup. This is the more recommended method because it provides the best protection against SQL Server corruption and recovery problems.

The Incremental Restore

The next option is the incremental restore. This is used when there is only a single copy of the data or only a small portion of it needed. It's still safer to use the transaction log backups, but the incremental restores provide an extra level of security to help avoid any SQL Server corruption. SQL Server rebuilds the entire database from the very start in an incremental manner, rather than saving only one copy of the data.

The Manageauditing Command

The last method, which is a good choice for most environments, is the manageauditing command. With this SQL Server management tool, you can create permission-managed backup files and set the necessary permissions. You can then manage auditing, select a user to manage the transactions, and check the security log at any point in time. You also have the ability to restore the audited data using the standard SQL backup functions.

To set up SQL server with manageauditing, you must use the SQL restore and setup accounts functions. With these two functions, you create a user name and set the appropriate permissions. You also create a log on the server with the SQL login user name and password and then instruct the SQL Server to save all logs in a backup directory. The backup directory also allows you to restore all types of security log files.

These types of SQL Server management tools allow you to create database backups, restore security-managed backups, and create a SQL recovery plan. If you regularly perform your own SQL server backup, you will know that it is vital to save all the SQL recovery plan for your database. This way, if something should go wrong, you will be able to quickly recover your data. There are many other benefits to saving your own SQL backups, but we're not going to get into them in this article.

Hopefully, you now understand how to restore your database from a SQL backup. If you need further assistance or you cannot get your SQL Server setup scripts to do what you need them to, there are many Sysprep tutorials online that can help. For example, if you accidentally deleted one of the tables in your transaction log, you can click "New Job" and then "OK". Now you'll have to enter your SQL recovery steps, which are located in the SQL Server Setup Wizard.