Page Restore Scenarios (Full Recovery Model) 

  • Article

In page restore, the goal is to restore one or more damaged pages without restoring the entire database. Typically, pages that are candidates for restore have been marked as "suspect" due to an error encountered when accessing the page. Suspect pages are identified in the suspect_pages table.

For the restore to succeed, the restored pages must be recovered to a state consistent with the database. An unbroken chain of log backups must be available up to the current log file, and all the log backups must be applied to bring the pages up to date with the current log file. When the filegroup is read-only, however, applying log backups is unnecessary and is skipped.

Note

The simple recovery model never supports page restore.

Offline Page Restore Scenario

Note

Page offline restore is supported for all editions of Microsoft SQL Server.

In an offline page restore, the database is offline while damaged pages are restored. At the end of the restore sequence, the database comes online.

If the filegroup containing the page is read-only, applying log backups is unnecessary and is skipped. If the filegroup is read-write, an unbroken chain of log backups must be applied to the last full or differential restore to bring the filegroup forward to the current log file. The database then uses the current log to roll the filegroup forward.

Online Page Restore Scenario

Note

Online restore is allowed only in the Enterprise Edition of SQL Server 2005.

When an individual page is damaged, an online page restore allows the page to be restored while the database remains online. Online page restore is particularly useful for pages damaged by hardware error.

Where online restore is supported, a page restore is automatically performed online if the database, including every filegroup to which a page is being restored, is online. Note that if a filegroup contains a file that is being restored or recovered, the filegroup is offline.

Note

An online restore attempts to update metadata, and that update might fail if a critical page is involved. If an online restore attempt fails, the restore must be performed offline.

For more information, see Performing Page Restores.

See Also

Concepts

Advantages of a File or Page Restore
File Restore Scenarios (Full Recovery Model)
Piecemeal Restore Scenario (Full Recovery Model)

Other Resources

suspect_pages (Transact-SQL)

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History

Release History

14 April 2006
Changed content:
  • Revised the description of the online page restore scenario.

5 December 2005
New content
  • Added a note explaining conditions that require performing page restores offline.
Changed content:
  • Removed erroneous note that stated that during recovery of any page in the primary filegroup, the entire database is offline.