The Options section of the Backup wizard allows you to select additional options, such as compression and encryption to use for the current backup operation.

What types of compression algorithms are available?

  • None
  • IntelliCompress, optimize for size (iSize)
  • IntelliCompress, optimize for speed (iSpeed)
  • Levels 1, 2, 3, 4

A backup operation using Level 1 completes fastest but achieves the least amount of compression. Level 4 achieves maximum compression, but the backup operation may take longer.

For more information about backup compression, see How to choose compression and encryption.

What types of encryption algorithms are available?

  • None
  • AES (128-bit)
  • AES (256-bit)

If your SQL Server environment requires FIPS compliance, use the AES encryption option. For more information, see Ensure FIPS compliance.

Does encryption require a password?

When you choose to encrypt an archive, you must assign a password. For security reasons, SQL Safe does not store this password. Ensure you remember the password you select.

What are the advanced options?

The following options are available as Advanced Options:

OptionsDescription
Number of threadsAllows you to specify how many threads you want SQL Safe to use to distribute the backup operation for compression across multiple processors on the target SQL Server computer. Use this setting to optimize backup performance. Select Auto to have SQL Safe determine the optimal thread count for your environment.
Remove inactive transaction log entriesRemoves all completed transactions from the transaction log after SQL Safe finishes the backup. This option is only available for Log backups.
Generate maps (for InstantRestore and SQL virtual database)Generates maps containing metadata for each database included in your backup file. Depending on the number of transactions completed since your last backup, generating maps may impact the performance of the backup operation. Generating maps is optional but must exist in the backup file for InstantRestore to accept and restore that file. SQL virtual database can attach SQL Safe backup files without the metadata, but the data files improve SQL VDB performance during creation of the virtual database. For more information, see Recover objects using SQL virtual database. This option is selected by default.
Include database logins in backup fileCopies SQL login information for the selected databases, including credentials and privileges, when the backup files are written. To help ensure the security of your SQL Server database, SQL Safe encrypts the login information. This option is available for full backups only.

Advanced options are only available when performing backups using the SQL Safe file format.

What are the advanced options for SQL Server 2005 and later?

The following options are available as Advanced Options for SQL Server 2005 and later:

OptionsDescription
Generate checksumsGenerates a checksum for the backup file.
Ignore checksum errorsSelect this option to ignore any errors from the generated checksum. If checksum errors are encountered, this option indicates that SQL Safe should continue to back up this database.
Read-write filegroupsSpecifies a partial backup, which includes the primary filegroup and any read-write secondary filegroups. Read-write filegroups are not supported by SQL virtual database. If this option is selected, the Generate metadata option will be disabled. Additionally, backups created with the read-write filegroups option cannot be used by SQL virtual database to create virtual databases.

After configuring the options for your backup, go to Configuring Notifications.


SQL Safe is a high-performance backup and recovery solution for your SQL Servers. Learn more > >

  • No labels