Restore Overview
Appendix C: Backup and Recovery Best Practices 131
Microsoft SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements
When you backup a Microsoft SQL Server instance that includes Full Database
backups of the master, model and msdb system databases, the Agent for
Microsoft SQL Server will generate an additional backup session called Microsoft
SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements. This session contains an image of the
master and model databases that can be restored as files, with the Microsoft SQL
Server instance offline. Restoring this session will take the place of performing a
Rebuild master Database operation. This allows you to bring Microsoft SQL
Server online, allowing you to restore from backups that have been taken online.
The Disaster Recovery Elements session will appear in the Restore by Tree view
with the name “Microsoft SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements”, followed by
the Instance Name for a named instance of Microsoft SQL Server. In the Restore
by Session view, it will have a volume name of “sqldr@” followed by the instance
name. For a default instance of Microsoft SQL Server, the instance name will
appear as “MSSQLSERVER”, regardless of the SQL Server version.
Restoring a Microsoft SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements session to its
original location will restore the files to the location where the master and model
database files existed. Restoring them to an Alternate Location and selecting a
disk or directory will place the files in the directory that you select. Restoring
them to an Alternate Location and selecting only the computer will restore them
to the original file path on the selected computer.
Note:
If you attempt to restore SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements to their
original location while the database is online, the restore will fail because
Microsoft SQL Server is using the existing files.
After restoring Disaster Recovery Elements, you should immediately restore the
master database, the msdb database if it is offline, and the model database,
from the regular online backups.
Important!
Disaster Recovery Elements are specific to the instance that they
were backed up from. If you use them for a different instance, that instance may
not start, or may behave incorrectly after starting.
Note:
The CA ARCserve Backup Disaster Recovery Option will include the
Microsoft SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements sessions when performing a
Disaster Recovery restore. If you use the Disaster Recovery Option to restore the
computer that houses the ARCserve Database, you should restore the three
system databases first after the Recover Database operation is finished. For
more information, see the
Administration Guide
.
