Monday 3 July 2017

Getting important information of SQL Server Backups

Regardless of the method that is used to take SQL Server backups, they need to be carefully monitored 24x7 hours especially in critical database environments whose data is changing rapidly. Keeping the backups up to date is crucial as they can save us a lot of time when it comes to recovering databases in the likely event of unwitting incidents. On the top of that, in my experience it was shameful to see many environments without a backup strategy in place, even more, nobody was in charge of them.  In that context, it is clear that those businesses were surely at high risk of losing a lot of data and jaw-dropping amounts of money. Sometimes it is believed that having backups of the whole virtual machine is good enough, nevertheless, this sort of backup has a different purpose from a database backup. Thus, at no time can we replace SQL Server database backups with virtual machine backups which are time-consuming, inadequate, far-fetched for databases. In this sense, having implemented a suitable database backup strategy (Full + Diff + Log Backups) and carefully monitoring them are fundamental tasks to serve the needs of ensuring the recovery database process.
Broadly, it is of paramount importance to have a script at hand to find out whether or not specific sorts of backups were taken properly as well as how long they last, the size of the backup file, who took the backup, or if the backup was taken using CHECK_SUM option, etc. Today I am sharing that script which returns important information of backups for all databases in a SQL Server instance. In the following script, it filters out info of Full Backups (type='D'). You can use 'L' for Log Backup and 'I' for Differential Backup. So, try it out and make the most out of the info.

SELECT isnull(d.name,'') DatabaseName,
CASE is_read_only WHEN 1 THEN 'YES' ELSE 'NO' END as IsReadOnly, 
cast(sum(size)/128.0/1024.0 as decimal(8,2) ) as DBSize_InGB ,  
isnull( last_backup.recovery_model,'')RecoveryModel,isnull(last_backup.name,'') as BackupName ,
isnull(cast(last_backup.backup_start_date as varchar(24)),'(No Taken)') as BackupStartDate,  
isnull(case when [backup_size]>1024 then  cast( cast([backup_size]/1024.0 as decimal(8,2)) as varchar(12)) 
     + 'GB' else cast([backup_size] as varchar(12)) + 'MB' end,0) as BackupSize,
isnull(case when compressed_backup_size>1024 then  cast( cast(compressed_backup_size/1024.0 as decimal(8,2)) as varchar(12)) +
     'GB' else cast(compressed_backup_size as varchar(12)) + 'MB' end,0) as CompressedBackupSize ,
 isnull([duration],'') as Duration, isnull(is_copy_only,'') as IsCopyOnly, isnull(is_damaged,'') as IsDamaged,  
 isnull(has_backup_checksums,'') as HasBackupCheckSUM, isnull([user_name],'')as UserName
FROM master.sys.sysaltfiles  f
    inner join sys.databases d on f.dbid=d.database_id
    inner join (select database_name,backup_start_date, name, is_damaged,is_password_protected,
                has_incomplete_metadata,is_copy_only, cast(backup_size/1024.0/1024.0 as decimal(8,2))  as [backup_size], 
                cast(compressed_backup_size/1024.0/1024.0 as decimal(8,2))  as compressed_backup_size,
                isnull(cast(  CAST((DATEDIFF(second, bs.backup_start_date, bs.backup_finish_date))/3600 AS varchar) + ' hours ' 
                     + CAST(((DATEDIFF(second, bs.backup_start_date, bs.backup_finish_date))%3600 )/60 AS varchar)+ ' min'    as varchar(40) 
                ), '(No Available)') as [duration],bs.backup_finish_date, has_backup_checksums , [user_name], recovery_model
              FROM msdb.dbo.backupset bs
              WHERE bs.backup_set_id IN (SELECT MAX(backup_set_id) FROM msdb.dbo.backupset
                                                      where    type = 'D'
                                                     GROUP BY database_name) 
                AND bs.database_name IN (SELECT name FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases  )
                                ) as last_backup   on d.name = last_backup.database_name
                             where fileid<>2    
                             group by dbid,d.name , d.is_read_only,d.recovery_model_desc, last_backup.database_name, 
last_backup.backup_start_date,last_backup.[backup_size] ,last_backup.compressed_backup_size,last_backup.name, last_backup.duration,
 last_backup.backup_finish_date,is_copy_only,is_damaged,has_backup_checksums , [user_name], last_backup.recovery_model
ORDER BY DATEDIFF(minute,  last_backup.backup_start_date,  last_backup.backup_finish_date) desc

That is all for now, let me know any remarks you may have.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Let me know any remarks or questions you may have. Please write down your name.

HELLO, I'M PERCY REYES! — a book lover, healthy lifestyle lover... I've been working as a senior SQL Server Database Administrator (DBA) for over 20 years; I'm a three-time awarded Microsoft Data Platform MVP. I'm currently doing a PhD in Computer Science (cryptography) at Loughborough University, England — working on cryptographic Boolean functions, algorithmic cryptanalysis, number theory, and other algebraic aspects of cryptography. READ MORE