SQL Server: Understanding and Performing Backups

Course Overview
Hello, my name is Paul Randal and welcome to my course, SQL Server: Understanding and Performing Backups. I'm a SQL Server consultant with SQLskills, as well as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP. And this topic is one that I've been presenting for many years because I find that many data professionals don't understand how backups work, the problems you can run into around backups, and how to formulate an effective backup strategy. It's really impossible to escape the need for backups, because whatever you're doing with SQL Server, you're at least going to want to protect your data. In this course, we're going to cover what the various kinds of backups are and how they work, including topics like transaction log clearing and performing special tail-log backups. We'll discuss how to put together a backup strategy based on business requirements, and how your restore strategy really dictates what backups you need to perform. Finally, we'll examine a bunch of common backup options, including backup compression, backup encryption, and backup integrity. By the end of this course, you'll have a really good understanding of why backups are important, how backups work, and how to create an effective backup strategy for your environment. If you work with SQL Server in any capacity, whatever your level, this course is relevant to you, and you only need a basic understanding of SQL Server to comfortably follow along. I hope you'll join me here as we explore the many aspects of backups in this course, SQL Server: Understanding and Performing Backups, here on Pluralsight.