Types of Data Backups (Full Recovery Model)
A data backup includes all of the data in a specific database or set of filegroups or files. There are three types of data backup: full, partial, and file.
| Backup type | Description |
|---|---|
Database backup |
A backup of the entire database including part of the transaction log (so that the full database backup can be recovered). Database backups are self-contained; they represent the entire database at the time the backup completed. For more information, see Full Database Backups. |
Partial backup |
A backup of all the data in the primary filegroup, every read-write filegroup, and any optionally specified files. A partial backup of a read-only database contains only the primary filegroup. Note The partial backup is new in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Though designed to provide more flexibility for backing up under the simple recovery model, partial backups are supported for full and bulk-logged recovery models as well. For more information, see Partial Backups. |
File backup |
A backup of all the data in one or more files (or filegroups). For more information, see File Backups. |
See Also
Concepts
Backup Under the Full Recovery Model