Proving the Restore, Part 9: Backups From a Different Database
Two backup files, same database name, same server name, LSNs that line up. They can still be from different databases. Database names get reused. A database is restored under a new name, then renamed back….
Proving the Restore, Part 8: Proving the Log Chain Has No Gaps
Restoring a full backup and then a hundred log backups works only if the logs form an unbroken sequence. One missing backup in the middle and the restore stops there, with the database still in…
Proving the Restore, Part 6: The Differential Base Has to Match
A differential backup contains every extent changed since its base full backup. Not since the last differential, and not since whichever full is newest on disk, but since one specific full backup. Restore it onto…
Backup & Recovery from First Principles, Part 2: Anatomy of a Backup
A backup file is not a copy of your MDF. It is a container with a precise contract: enough pages and enough log to reconstruct a transactionally consistent database as of the moment the backup…