Introducing Dell™ NetVault™ Backup Plug-in for SQL Server®
Dell NetVault Backup Plug-in for SQL Server: at a glance
Key benefits
Feature summary
Target audience
Recommended additional reading
Planning your SQL Server deployment
Installing and removing the plug-in
Installation prerequisites
Installing the plug-in
Licensing the plug-in
Removing the plug-in
Removing a SQL Server® Instance
Configuring the plug-in
Configuring authentication details
Configuring the NetVault Backup Virtual Client
Enabling communication between nodes in an AlwaysOn Availability Group
Specifying a default configuration (optional)
Changing the TCP/IP port for SQL Server®
Setting up SQL Server® Authentication for SQL Server 2012 or later
Backing up data
Defining a backup strategy
Restoring data
Reviewing the available backup methods
Reviewing SQL Server® recovery models
Defining an online VDI backup strategy and reviewing types
Reviewing the compression features
Performing online VDI backups
Performing VSS backups in SQL Server®
Example of creating a full VDI backup of an AlwaysOn Availability Group
Full Database backup
Differential Database backup
Copy-Only backup
Incremental Transaction Log backup
Tail-Log backup
Full File and Filegroup backup
Differential File and Filegroup backup
Partial Database backup
Differential Partial Database Backup
Examples of VDI online backup sequences
Defining a VSS backup strategy and reviewing types
Examples of VSS backup sequences
Backing up system databases
Backing up replicated databases
Restoring data: an overview
Troubleshooting
Understanding the available types of online VDI restores
Restoring system databases
Restoring databases involved in replication
Restoring data from online VDI backups
Restoring data from VSS backups
Using other restore procedures
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
Microsoft supports the ability to create snapshots of SQL Server® data using VSS. VSS allows volume backups to be performed while applications on the system continue to write to the volumes. Microsoft provides a SQL Server VSS Writer that permits backup programs such as Plug‑in for SQL Server to copy SQL Server data while SQL Server is running. VSS-based backups do not negatively affect SQL Server’s performance or stability.
Reviewing SQL Server® recovery models
When a database is created, a recovery model is enabled. Microsoft defines a recovery model as a “database property that controls the basic behavior of backup and recovery of the database.” The database’s recovery model controls how its transactions are logged, whether the transaction log can be backed up, and which kinds of restores are supported. SQL Server provides three different recovery models: Simple, Full, and Bulk-Logged.
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Simple Recovery Model: With a Simple Recovery Model, log backups are not supported. Therefore, changes since the most recent backup are not protected. In the unfortunate event of failure, these changes must be re-run. PIT recovery is not allowed. |
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Full Recovery Model: Full Recovery Model databases require log backups; therefore, no work is lost due to a lost or damaged data file. PIT recovery is supported, assuming backups are complete up to the point-of-failure. |
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Bulk-Logged Recovery Model: Bulk-Logged Recovery Model databases require log backups. The Bulk-Logged Recovery Model is a variation of the Full Recovery Model that permits high-performance bulk-copy operations. This model reduces log space usage by bulk-logging most bulk operations. If a log is damaged or bulk-operations have occurred since the most recent Transaction Log backup, these changes must be re-run. PIT recovery is not supported for bulk-logged databases. |
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Simple Recovery Model: The Simple Recovery Model should only be enabled for databases that are not updated frequently such as test, development, or databases mostly containing read-only data. |
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Full Recovery Model: The Full Recovery Model should be enabled for transactional databases where full recoverability and preventing work loss in a full range of recovery scenarios is required. |
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Bulk-Logged Recovery Model: The Bulk-Logged Recovery Model should be used temporarily when bulk operations, such as bulk inserts or index creation, are performed on Full Recovery Model databases. The Bulk-Logged Recovery Model increases performance and reduces log space consumption during these operations; you can switch databases back to full recovery immediately after the bulk operations have completed. |
For more information, see Recovery Models and Transaction Log Management in the SQL Server Books Online.
Defining an online VDI backup strategy and reviewing types
After selecting the recovery model that meets your requirements for each database, you can design and implement a corresponding backup strategy. When defining a SQL Server® Online VDI Backup strategy, answer the following questions:
Full Database backup
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Recovery models: All |