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SQL Server Backup and Restore - Simple Talk

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Large data volumes<br />

Chapter 4: Restoring From Full <strong>Backup</strong><br />

As noted previously, full database restores can be a time-consuming process for large<br />

databases, <strong>and</strong> can quickly eat away at disk space, or even fill up a disk completely. In<br />

disaster recovery situations where only a small subset of data has been lost, it often feels<br />

frustrating to have to go through a long, full restore process in order to extract what<br />

might be only a few rows of data. However, when using only native <strong>SQL</strong> <strong>Server</strong> tools,<br />

there is no real alternative.<br />

If you have licenses for third-party backup <strong>and</strong>/or data comparison tools, it's worth<br />

investigating the possibility of performing what is termed object-level restore. In the case<br />

of Red Gate tools, the ones with which I am familiar, their backup products (both <strong>SQL</strong><br />

<strong>Backup</strong> <strong>and</strong> Hyperbac), <strong>and</strong> <strong>SQL</strong> Data Compare, offer this functionality. With them, you<br />

can compare a backup file directly to a live database, <strong>and</strong> then restore only the missing<br />

object <strong>and</strong> data, rather than the whole database.<br />

Furthermore, Red Gate also offers a different kind of tool to accommodate these large<br />

database restore situations, namely <strong>SQL</strong> Virtual <strong>Restore</strong>. This tool allows you to mount<br />

compressed backups as databases without going through the entire restore process. Since<br />

I've yet to use this tool in a production scenario, I won't be including any examples in this<br />

book. However, to learn more, check out Brad McGehee's article on <strong>Simple</strong> <strong>Talk</strong>, at<br />

www.simple-talk.com/sql/sql-tools/brads-sure-guide-to-sql-virtual-restore-/.<br />

Restoring databases containing sensitive data<br />

If we simply go ahead <strong>and</strong> perform a full database restore of a production database onto<br />

one of our development or testing instances, we could inadvertently be breaking a lot of<br />

rules. It's possible that the production instance stores sensitive data <strong>and</strong> we do not want<br />

every developer in the company accessing social security numbers <strong>and</strong> bank account<br />

information, which would be encrypted in production, on their development machines!<br />

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