Log Shipping

In the SQL Server 2005 Database Engine, you can use log shipping to send transaction logs from one database (the primary database) to another (the secondary database) on a constant basis. Continually backing up the transaction logs from a primary database and then copying and restoring them to a secondary database keeps the secondary database nearly synchronized with the primary database. The destination server acts as a backup server and provides a way to reallocate query processing from the primary server to one or more read-only secondary servers. Log shipping can be used with databases using the full or bulk-logged recovery models.

Note

Log shipping requires SQL Server Standard Edition, SQL Server Workgroup Edition, or SQL Server Enterprise Edition on all server instances involved in log shipping.

In This Section

Topic Description

Understanding Log Shipping

Introduces log shipping concepts and provides an example of a typical log shipping configuration.

Migrating a SQL Server 2000 Log Shipping Configuration to SQL Server 2005

Describes the options for upgrading a SQL Server 2000 log shipping configuration.

Configuring Log Shipping

Describes the steps involved in configuring a database for log shipping.

Monitoring Log Shipping

Describes the server instance used to monitor log shipping activity and keep log shipping history.

Failing Over to a Log Shipping Secondary

Describes how to fail over to a secondary database and bring it online.

Changing Roles Between Primary and Secondary Servers

Describes the procedures involved in manually failing back and forth between the primary and secondary databases.

Using Secondary Servers for Query Processing

Describes how to use a secondary database for read-only query processing, and the tradeoffs involved with doing this.

Using Log Shipping as Part of a Recovery Plan

Describes how to keep log shipping transaction log backups along with your full database backups as part of your recovery strategy. .

Removing Log Shipping

Describes the steps involved in removing a log shipping configuration.

Log Shipping Tables and Stored Procedures

Provides information about the tables and stored procedures used by log shipping.

See Also

Concepts

Database Mirroring and Log Shipping

Other Resources

Database Mirroring

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance