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youruseridistoxic
Yak Posting Veteran
65 Posts |
 Posted - 2008-07-14 : 15:43:19
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| Is it possible to view/delete specific backups from a .bak file? |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 15:48:30
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| Run RESTORE HEADERONLY to see what you've got in your bak file.I don't know of a way to delete a backup set from a backup.Tara KizerMicrosoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Serverhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/Subscribe to my blog |
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youruseridistoxic
Yak Posting Veteran
65 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 16:01:13
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| After a little digging, it seems the best way to approach this (a .bak file that's over 160gb's and 3 years of appending!?!?) is to set expiration thresholds on the backup set.Question is - why do these options appear greyed out in the backup dialogue box? |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 16:02:32
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| The best way to approach this is to not append backups together, instead use individual files for each backup. Put a timestamp in the filename to achieve unique file names.Tara KizerMicrosoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Serverhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/Subscribe to my blog |
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youruseridistoxic
Yak Posting Veteran
65 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 16:04:09
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The backups are directed to a backup device, the .bak in question. This file is then backed up to tape.Why is collecting them within a container such as this a bad idea?quote:
Originally posted by tkizer
The best way to approach this is to not append backups together, instead use individual files for each backup. Put a timestamp in the filename to achieve unique file names.Tara KizerMicrosoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Serverhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/Subscribe to my blog
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 16:06:50
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| Because it makes restoring harder. Plus what happens if you need to restore the production database onto a test environment for debug or development reasons? In your scenario, you'd have to copy that large file with potentially hundreds or thousands of backups in it.I haven't used backup devices since SQL Server 6.5. People just don't use them anymore and instead favor direct to file.Tara KizerMicrosoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Serverhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/Subscribe to my blog |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 16:07:40
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| Also there is no issue with copying the individual backup files to tape. You do not need to append them together to achieve tape backups.Tara KizerMicrosoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Serverhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/Subscribe to my blog |
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
7020 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 16:35:07
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quote:
Originally posted by youruseridistoxic...Why is collecting them within a container such as this a bad idea?...
Because doing that is the cause of the problem you originally posted a question about.Just backup to individual timestamped backup files.SQL Server Maintenance Plans will create and manage these automatically. There are also stored procedures available on Tara's blog that will do this.CODO ERGO SUM |
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youruseridistoxic
Yak Posting Veteran
65 Posts |
Posted - 2008-07-14 : 19:53:28
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| Makes perfect sense. Thank you! |
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.bak files