The Backup Sets tab of the Virtual Database Wizard allows you to choose which backup sets you want to use to mount for the selected virtual database.
What information is on the Backup Sets tab?
For the database you have selected to mount, the backup set listing is populated with the available backup sets from the Repository. You can easily identify your SQL Safe backups or native backups (SQL Server) in the format column. You can choose the specific backup sets you want to mount the virtual database from, or you can select a point in time to which you want to do so.
What do you do on the Backup Sets tab?
For the virtual database you are mounting, you can choose one of three methods to select the appropriate backup sets:
- Time slider
- Manual selection of a specific point-in-time
- Manual selection of the backup set
What is the benefit of using the point-in-time slider?
When you select a point in time by clicking on the time slider, the corresponding backup sets are automatically selected. This ensures you are using the appropriate backup sets and files to mount the data you need. SQL Safe does not mount data time-stamped with dates later than the point in time you specify.
How do you use the point-in-time slider?
Depending on where you click, you can control which backups are used in mounting a virtual database.
Click location | Result |
Within a full backup marker | Selection of the full backup set. |
Within a differential backup marker | Selection of the last known full backup, as well as the differential backup. |
Above a transactional log marker | Slider snaps to the end of that log file and you will select the last known full backup and the entire transaction log file. |
Within a transactional log marker | Selection of the last known full backup and all the transactions up to the specific point-in-time you clicked on. |
Why would you select a specific point-in-time instead of using the slider?
Because the precision of the slider may not suit your needs, you can manually enter the specific point in time to mount the virtual database in the Selection Options. This automatically selects the appropriate backup sets while providing pin-point time accuracy.
How do you manually select backup sets?
You can also choose to manually select which backup sets to restore. If you choose this option, you must also select the specific backup set to restore. To pick specific backup files, click the Backup Files from the list of Backup Set Names.
How do you select where your backup files are located?
Click Edit File Paths to display a list of backup files that you can use to mount the virtual database from the selected backup set. The Backup File Locations window displays the list of backup files SQL Safe uses to mount the virtual database from your backup sets. By clicking on the filename, you can edit it. You can also edit the path by clicking the button to the right of the path you want to change. Mirrored files also appear in the drop-down list if available. Click OK to apply your changes.
What are the encryption settings?
The option for Encryption Settings will be available when you choose a backup set where you have used the encryption option during its backup. Use this option to access these encryption settings.
How do you keep your virtual databases running despite network errors?
Select Enable network resiliency, and then click Configure to change the default settings. By default, SQL Safe will retry the virtual database mounting operation every 10 seconds and then fail after 5 minutes (300 seconds) of continuous errors. Also, over the course of the operation, SQL Safe allows a total of 60 minutes in which to retry the virtual database mounting operation before stopping the operation.
Why is the Generate Script button enabled?
You can generate a T-SQL or CLI script that will execute the virtual database mounting operation with the settings you have defined in this wizard. For more information about generating scripts, see how script generation works.
How do you use a mirrored file?
In some situations, SQL Safe creates a mirrored version of a backup file. You can use this file when the database you want is mirrored, and you cannot find the original because it was moved or deleted.
When SQL Safe tests file paths for a restore and do not find the information it is looking for, a dialog box opens asking if you want to choose the same path and try again, or if you want to choose a different location for these files. If you choose to find a different path, SQL Safe displays the path of the failed file and allows you to choose another location. SQL Safe displays an icon to the left of the file name that alerts you of any file that failed the access test. Select the appropriate path, and then click OK.
Once you select the Backup Sets for your virtual database, click NEXT to specify your database files.