The Backup Sets tab of the Restore wizard allows you to choose which backup sets you want to use to restore the selected databases.
What information is on the Backup Sets tab?
For each database you have selected to restore, 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 restore, or you can select a point in time to which you want to restore data. To restore more than one database, select a backup set for each database.
If your backups have been done locally in a server that is different from the restore server, you may need to specify manually the location of these backup sets.
What do you do on the Backup Sets tab?
For each database you are restoring, 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 in the time slider, the corresponding backup sets are automatically selected. This ensures you are using the appropriate backup sets and files to restore the data you need. SQL Safe does not restore 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 this restore.
| 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 transactional 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. |
You can set the amount of information displayed on the point-in-time slider by choosing information from the Last 30 days, Last 14 days, Last 7 days, Yesterday & Today, Today, and Custom Date Range.
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 restore 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 restore the selected backup set. The Backup File Locations window displays the list of backup files SQL Safe uses to restore 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 restores running despite network errors?
Select Enable network resiliency, and then click Configure to change the default settings. By default, SQL Safe will retry the restore 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 restore before stopping the operation.
Why is the Generate Script button enabled?
You can generate a T-SQL or CLI script that will execute the restore 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 does 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 you restore, click NEXT to specify your database files.