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#Go back in time full
SSMS will automatically check all available backups starting from the latest full backup
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Unless you have a complete log chain, you will still not be able to restore your database to the point in time you require. But just having the database set to the full recovery model is not enough. This means that every event which takes place in the database gets written to the log, which is why it then makes it possible for you to restore up to a specific point. In order to be able to restore to a specific point in time, you need to have your database set to use the full recovery model. The downside to this is of course that not each transaction is recorded in the log, and as such it does not allow you to do a point in time restore. The purpose of the bulk logged recovery model is to allow you to perform bulk operations without writing each transaction to the transaction log, and as such improve the performance of your bulk operation. Obviously, this will never be good enough for mission critical databases, but it definitely has its place and its uses. You don’t have to worry about anything like a log chain or tons of log backups, or even when the log will be truncated. The upside of this recovery model is of course that it takes very little administration. In the case of a simple recovery model, you are essentially agreeing that it is ok to lose all changes made to your database after the last full backup. It’s important to know, that getting back to a specific point in time is not always an option, since it is completely dependent on 2 things:Ĭhoosing your recovery model is a pivotal decision, because it essentially defines how much data you are prepared to lose in case of a disaster. You can read more about this in the Using SQL Server database snapshots to protect yourself against accidental data modification online article. Of course, if you did not anticipate the damaging event, or you do not use database snapshots as part of your regular data protection strategy this may not be an option for you, and you will be forced to use the point-in-time restore method. If you know that you are going to perform a task which may damage your data, it would be prudent to take a database snapshot before you do it.ĭatabase snapshots are quick and easy to create, and very easy to roll back. SQL Server provides two mechanisms for you to recover from these events:
#Go back in time upgrade
Your attempted database upgrade failed, and left the database in an unknown state.
#Go back in time update
Someone executed an update without a WHERE clause.There may be various reasons why this could be necessary but it is usually related to the execution of accidental or malicious DML or DDL statements. There are certain circumstances in which you may need to roll back your database to a specific point in time.
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