New in This Release
- Ability to deploy backup templates using PowerShell.
- Allow to suppress error result for tlog backup in case of no full backup existing for the databases.
- Ability to export backup history to excel.
Enhancements
- Allow to set the number of concurrent backups in maintenance plans (number of threads).
- Change maintenance plans logging to "Verbose, Log files removed on success" and add deletion of old log files.
- Small maintenance plans UI improvements
New features in LiteSpeed 8.9.1:
- New cloud storage type supported: S3 Compatible Storage.
- Change Role subscriber / publisher wizard now available in Log Shipping module
Enhancements
- Custom Endpoint is supported for Amazon S3 cloud.
- Ability to disable "AG" identification queries added to LS Core ini file.
- Ability to suppress result output from extended stored procedures.
- Restore Wizard performance improved.
- Newer builds may now upgrade older builds within one version
New features in LiteSpeed 8.9:
- LiteSpeed now has a Compliance report at Server and Group levels
- Smart Cleanup Policies
- Smart Cleanup is available as a new maintenance plan task
- Always On Availability Groups related improvements.
- Automated Restore now supports move data and log files option.
- Databases now can be added / excluded with AlwaysOn Availability Group name wildcard in Backup Templates.
- Now backups may run concurrently in a maintenance plan backup task.
- Object Level Recovery now able to drop existing table before the table recovery.
- LiteSpeed now supports KMS SSE with Amazon S3 services.
- LiteSpeed Core now supports temporary credentials for Amazon Web Services.
- LiteSpeed now able take into account local Sql Server time zone.
- Backup templates now can skip databases in a restoring state.
- Log Shipping now correctly indicates status for the first t-log backup.
- Log Reader now may export all data from reading logs with PowerShell.
- Log Reader now allows setting custom temporary folder in UI options.
- LiteSpeed now warns when illegal characters used in a maintenance plan name.
- LiteSpeed console UI and documentation improvements.
- Amazon S3 EU (Stockholm) region has been added to supported regions.
- LiteSpeed now supports compressed backups for TDE databases with Sql Server 2016 CU8 and above, Sql Server 2017 CU16 and above, Sql Server 2019 and above
New features in LiteSpeed 8.8:
- Backup Templates now support the differential backup type
- Backup Templates now support IBM Spectrum Protect™ (Tivoli Storage Manager)
- Automated Restore now has the ability to do point in time restores
- There have been Remote Deploy improvements
Google Cloud Storage
LiteSpeed now supports Google Cloud Storage as a target for backups.
MS AES encryption
LiteSpeed now supports the FIPS 140-2 compliant Microsoft AES encryption (128, 192 and 256) algorithms.
Mirroring backups to cloud storage
LiteSpeed now supports mirroring backups to the Cloud.
Mirroring backups in Backup Templates to local and cloud storage
LiteSpeed now supports mirroring backups in conjunction with Backup Templates. This new feature applies to local backups and backups to cloud storage.
OLR (Object Level Recovery) reads backups from cloud storage
LiteSpeed OLR (Object Level Recovery) can now be used to restore particular database objects (like tables with data) direct from cloud storage.
Log Reader reads backup files direct from cloud storage
Log Reader can now read backup files direct from cloud storage.
SQL Server 2016 support
- Support of Sql Server 2016 has been added.
Object Level Recovery performance
- Object Level Recovery has been enhanced by adding multi-threading support which results in a significant (marked) improvement of Object Level Recovery speed.
- Note that on the Recover Table Wizard | Advanced Options | Direct Mode is selected by default and performs faster than the Bulk Insert alternative.
Transaction Log Reader scalability
- The Log Reader has been enhanced by adding multi-threading support which results in a significant (marked) improvement of Transaction Log Reader scalability.
Restore from a different SQL Server instance
- In the Restore Wizard you can now select the SQL Server instance and database to restore from.
Automated Restore
- Restore Verify Only option has been added. This allows you to verify backups in Automated Restore without real database restoring.
- New option Verify the latest full or differential backup has been added. Use this to check only the latest backup without needing to check the full restore chain of backups.
Restore to Different Instance reporting
- A new report Restore by Source has been added to the LiteSpeed activity reports.
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The report shows restore activities performed on different SQL Server instances for backups created on the selected SQL Server instance in the tree.
NOTE: Central repository is required.
Backup
- The default backup name and description can now include the AlwaysOn Availability Group name by using the variable %AG%. This allows you to group databases into folders based on the AlwaysOn Availability Group name. It is ignored for databases that are not in an AlwaysOn Availability Group.
Backup Templates
- The location for Transaction Log backups can now be set independent of the Fast Compression / Full backups location. The path can be modified for each instance at deployment time.
- You can now use the Backup Template to exclude individual databases within the selected categories of all databases, system databases, user databases and databases matching a wildcard or regular expression. Further to this, individual databases can be excluded at deployment. The path to the Transaction Log backup is visible from the LiteSpeed Console.
Multi-Database Backup
- There is a new Exclude Databases step to the Backup Wizard. If you selected to include all databases, system databases or user databases then you can use the Exclude Databases step to select those databases you do not want backed up.
Backup folder creation now has automatic retry logic
- LiteSpeed now makes 3 attempts for folder creation at 0.5 second intervals.
Database Properties
- The Database Properties dialog from the Backup Manager now indicates whether FileStream is enabled. A new Stretch Database property is also included for SQL Server 2016 Stretch Databases.
Support for IAM Roles on Amazon EC2
- LiteSpeed now supports IAM Roles authentication on Amazon EC2 virtual machines connecting to S3 storage.
Regions added to Amazon S3 Cloud
- US East (Ohio) is added to the Amazon S3 Cloud region selection list.
- Mumbai India is added to the Amazon S3 Cloud region selection list.
Azure Cold Storage
- LiteSpeed has been tested with Azure Cold Storage. It is fully compatible.
Backup and restore to and from Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
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LiteSpeed now supports backing up to and restoring from Microsoft Azure Blob Storage (page and block blobs supported).
Automatic file striping for cloud backup
- LiteSpeednow supports (optional) automatic file striping to cloud to avoid hitting maximum cloud blob file sizes and improving file transfer speeds when running cloud backups.
Added support for the new AWS Amazon S3 Standard - Infrequent Access Storage class
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LiteSpeed now supports the new AWS Amazon S3 Standard - Infrequent Access Storage class. Infrequent Access (Standard - IA) is an Amazon S3 storage class for data that is accessed less frequently, but requires rapid access when needed. Standard - IA offers the high durability, throughput, and low latency of Amazon S3 Standard, with a low per GB storage price and per GB retrieval fee which is ideal for long-term storage of backups.
Added additional AWS region support
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LiteSpeed now supports the AWS Asia Pacific – (Seoul) region.
Adjusted default compression level for cloud backups
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The default LiteSpeed compression level for cloud backups has been changed to Compression Level 7 to minimize compressed backup file size, reduce bandwidth requirements, improve restore speeds, and reduce cloud storage costs.
LiteSpeed license management
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You can now manage LiteSpeed licenses from the manage instance registrations dialog.
SQL Server 2016 RC0 Supported
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LiteSpeed now supports SQL Server 2016 RC0 (except Log Reader).
Job Manager Windows tasks User-Interface improvements
- Users can now easily switch between the modern Windows Tasks and the classic Windows Task Scheduler 1.0 functionality.
Windows 10 support
- LiteSpeed now supports Windows 10.
Central repository automatically selected at install
- The LiteSpeed central repository is now automatically selected during installation.
Dynamic variables supported
- LiteSpeed dynamic variables are all fully supported for folder names.
Repository maintenance updates
- LiteSpeed repository maintenance/clean-up is now included when using the remote installer.
Improved advanced options
- Improvements have been made for the LiteSpeed advanced options dialog.
Partial backups and restores
- LiteSpeed now supports partial backups and restores. See About partial backups and restores.
Region added to Amazon S3 Cloud
- Frankfurt Germany is added to the Amazon S3 Cloud region selection list.
Updated Backup Analyzer wizard
- More user friendly graph and grid components along with advanced options. See Test Optimal Backup Settings.
Backup Manager option for automatically refreshing screens
- You can now refresh the Overview and LiteSpeed Activity screens a configurable amount in increments from one to 30 minutes.
Object Level Recovery updates
- OLR now supports preview for index data types.
Updated User Interface View Ribbon
- The view ribbon displays local instance and central instance selections that are visible in the Navigation Pane. See LiteSpeed User Interface View Ribbon and Navigation Pane.
New SQL Server registration parameters
- You can now include custom parameters when registering servers. See Register Server Instances, Step 4.
OLR and restore wizards update
- The OLR and Restore Wizard contain backup selection Improvements. See Restore Objects in the LiteSpeed UI Console and Restore Databases Using the Restore Wizard
Instance configuration wizard update
- The instance configuration wizard contains a repository cleanup page that cleans old information from the local and central repository. See Configure Server Instances.
Manually restore a master database updated procedure
- The procedure has been updated for manually restoring a master database. See Manually Restore a Master Database.
Updated centralized instance registration and sharing
- Use this new feature to share a common set of instance registrations across all consoles. See About Registering and Grouping Server Instances.
License management
- License, license type, and license expire date can be viewed and edited for SQL Server instances. See the tip in Register Server Instances.
Job manager
- The job manager works with Windows Server 2008+ Windows Tasks.
Amazon S3 Cloud Backup Support
- LiteSpeed now supports backing up to and restoring from the Amazon S3 Cloud. See About the Cloud
Updated User Interface
- LiteSpeed now offers an updated user interface.
Automated Restore Immediate Execution Option
- An immediate execution option has been added to Automated Restore.
Multi-Database Backup Support for Fast Compression
- Fast Compression is now available for Multi-Database backup in the UI.
Multi-Database Restore
- Multi-Database restores can now be done using Automated Restore.
Dell Rebrand
- The product name has been renamed to LiteSpeed for SQL Server (removing the NetVault name).
Backup Performance Improvements
- Backup speed and size for small backups has improved.
Database Consistency Check Option in Automated Restore
- The new DBCC CHECKDB option in Automated Restore allows DBAs to run a consistency check on restored databases including physical structure, purity, and extended logical checks.
New Multi-Database Backup Wizard
- The new Multi-Database Backup Wizard and LiteSpeed API improvements now make it even easier to back up a selection, All, User, or System databases in a single pass.
Smart Cleanup Policies Archive Bit Support
- Smart Cleanup Policies now supports an Archive-bit option which instructs SmartCleanup to leave a backup on disk if it has not yet been backed up by your enterprise backup software.
Faster Object Level Recovery
- Object Level Recovery now provides an option to insert data directly into the destination database without the need for temporary files. This can speed up Object Level Recovery operations on very large tables.
Improved LiteSpeed Activity Dashboard
- The LiteSpeed Activity tab now provides an option to see all relevant activity (Backup, Restore, Verify, and Database Consistency Check) in a single view. In addition, it now shows in-progress backups when a central repository is used.
Dell DR4000 / DR4100 Appliance Support
- LiteSpeed now supports Dell DR4000 and DR4100 appliances.