Microsoft SQL Server

Backup Recover Maintenence

Basics 3rd Party Apps Error Codes

Data page
An SQL Server database’s basic data storage structure is 8 KB and is known as a data page.

Disaster recovery planning
The formulating, and testing the procedures needed to be performed if data in in a SQL Server database was lost.

Minimally logged operations (bulk load operations)
Data movement operations that require minimal logging in the transaction log. such as; Data Transformation Services (DTS) operations, and SELECT INTO.

Filegroup
A logical grouping of SQL Server database files.

Log sequence number (LSN)
The unique number that each operation is stamped with when it is written to the transaction log. A single SQL Server transaction may contain several LSNs.

Logical file names
The names that are used by SQL Server to identify files within an SQL Server database.

Physical file names
The name used by the operating system to identify specific files. All SQL Server database files have both a physical and a logical file name.

Extent
A collection of 8 data pages. Since a data page is 8 KB, an extent is 64 KB.

SQL Query Analyzer
A graphical tool provided with SQL Server client utilities to query SQL Server databases using the Transact-SQL commands.

Transaction
A set of modifications that are performed as a single unit of work. A transaction follows the ACID guidelines.

Transaction log
A record of modifications performed to a database. The amount of information logged in the transaction log depends on the recovery model for a database. For more information on recovery models, see “Recovery Models” in the next section of this paper.

Tail of transaction log
The transactions that have been committed but not backed up since the previous complete or differential database backup or transaction log backup.

Transaction undo file
File containing information regarding any modifications that were made as part of incomplete transactions at the time the backup was performed. A transaction undo file is required if a database is loaded in read-only state. In this state, further transaction log backups may be applied.

Virtual log file (VLF)
A logical section within an SQL Server database’s transaction log. When performing a truncate of the transaction log, an entire VLF is cleaned out.