Disaster recovery of SQL Server

SQL Server corrects itself automatically from temporary or minor problems. However, most disasters are beyond the scope of the automatic recovery feature. For example, if a database becomes severely corrupted, or there is a catastrophic failure, recovery is initiated by the system administrator.

User-initiated recovery can entail either restoring the entire server, including the SQL Server databases, from full system backups. Or recovery can include restoring only the SQL Server databases to a newly-installed or other available SQL Server.

Restoring the entire server has the added benefit of recovering other applications and data which may have resided on the server at the time of failure. Restoring be accomplished using one of the following methods:

After recovery of the server is complete, or after the new server installation is available, recovery of the SQL Server databases can begin.

More Information

Preparing for disaster recovery of SQL Server