SQL Backup^™

SQL Backup works with SQL Server 2008, 2005 and 2000 databases.

No. If you have a professional license, you can register servers and run a backup or a restore remotely.

The Pro license allows you to back up and restore databases on a remote server via the GUI, and allows both 128-bit and 256-bit encryption, network resilience for backups, 'self-healing' log shipping, and more. You can't perform remote backups and restores via the GUI with a Lite license. The Lite license offers only Standard compression, and it does not allow encryption. If you have a SQL Server cluster and wish to use the cluster-aware installation mechanism, you will require Pro licenses. Other features, such as using multiple threads and Timeline Monitoring™ are available in both Lite and Pro licenses. See the feature comparison table for further details on the differences between both licenses.

A file format change has been made in SQL Backup 6. The file extension has not changed and remains .sqb. The file format has changed as a part of the enhancement and bug fix work in the 6 release. The file format change also includes some forwards-compatibility capabilities, reducing the need for file format changes in the future. Alerts will appear in the GUI to notify you of the file format change when relevant.

SQL Backup 6 is backwards-compatible. If you are restoring a backup file created with SQL Backup 5.4 or earlier to a server with SQL Backup 6 installed, SQL Backup 6 will be able to read both file formats. If you are restoring from a server with SQL Backup 6 installed to a server with SQL Backup 5.4 or earlier installed, we recommend you first upgrade the target server. If you are unable to do this for any reason, you will need to use a new file converter utility (SQL Backup File Converter). This is available from the Tools > Utilities menu in SQL Backup 6's GUI or as a standalone program (“SQLConverterGUI.exe”). Alternatively, a command-line version of the converter is provided ("SQBConverter.exe"). This converter will convert from the new file format to the old one (as well as to native MTF format). Please note the "sqb2mtf.exe" converter has also been updated to support the new file format.

For more information about how to manage the file format change, please see File format change in v6

Yes. The interactive timeline in SQL Backup's GUI can be browsed per server by clicking on the left-hand bar to view activities for each registered server. Tabs at the top of the timeline pane also display location and time zone for each registered SQL Server. You can click between tabs to view past, present, and future activities for different locations or time zones.

Yes. Microsoft SQL Server provides standard interfaces to third-party software vendors to perform backups and restores. Most storage software uses this interface to perform database backups and restores (e.g. your tape storage software). SQL Backup uses exactly the same interfaces. It does not use any unpublished features or APIs.

We have thoroughly tested SQL Backup, both in-house and through public testing programs. We have also tested on multi-processor machines writing over multiple disks. In addition, SQL Backup has undergone an independent security assessment to ensure that it is safe to use.

The achievable compression ratio is largely dependent upon the type of data in the database. Our testing indicates compression ratios between 50 and 95%. SQL Backup supports four compression levels. Compression level four aims for maximum compression. A Compression Analyzer is also provided; this samples data so that you can determine the best compression for your backup requirements.

Yes, you should see an increase in performance of 10–90%, depending on your machine. This increase in performance is related to compression and our highly optimized I/O algorithms.

Yes, for the same reasons that backups take less time.

SQL Backup Pro contains a cluster-aware installation mechanism that will automatically detect cluster installations while installing SQL Backup. You can also do this by running SQBServerSetup.exe on one node and installing SQL Backup manually. Alternatively, this can also be done via a menu in the GUI. SQL Backup can then be activated by running LicenseActivation.exe on any node in the clusters.

Yes. SQL Backup is scalable to enterprise level with enterprise-wide configuration support, monitoring and reporting. SQL Backup also integrates with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.

SQL Object Level Recovery Pro^™ is now available in SQL Backup Pro. It is also possible to perform Row Level Restore with SQL Backup Pro and SQL Data Compare Pro.

Yes. We provide a freely distributable application that converts between the two formats: (SQBConverter.exe). More information about converting between the two formats can be found in the relevant Support area.

Yes. SQL Backup Pro provides an intuitive interface to help you set up log shipping jobs. Log shipping is also 'self-healing' in version 6 of SQL Backup Pro, so your log shipping activities are better protected against flaky networks. For more information, please see Features.

Yes, SQL Backup does support FILESTREAM storage.

Yes. We ship a Maintenance Plan Conversion Wizard with SQL Backup v5.3 and later. You can launch the wizard by running the file SQBMaintPlanConv.exe; this file is located in your SQL Backup folder.

The activation server looks for the XML data in the activation request. HTML formatted emails make it difficult for the activation server to locate the activation request in the message and, when it's not found, the server simply gives up and discards the email. To prevent this, always ensure that activation requests via email are in plain-text format rather than HTML.

To find out how much it will cost to upgrade to the latest version, please see our page about upgrading.

The latest version is SQL Backup 6.4.

If you are a new user, you can download the products after choosing which ones you would like to try, and filling in a short form.

If you are a current customer, you can upgrade to the latest version by choosing Check for updates in the Help menu of the product. If you are using version 5 or earlier and have paid for upgrades, you can obtain a free upgrade to version 6 from our Upgrade Center. If you are using version 5 or earlier and have not paid for upgrades, you can still use version 6 through a free 14-day trial. Please note that if you trial and activate version 6, you will replace version 5. We therefore recommend that you trial version 6 on a test server before choosing to purchase a full upgrade of version 6.

Please note that SQL Backup Standard version 4 customers who have a valid support and upgrades package will be able to upgrade to SQL Backup Standard version 6 in the Upgrade Center. If you do not have a valid support and upgrades package and would like to upgrade, please see our information about upgrades. If you have any questions regarding your upgrade from SQL Backup Standard version 4, please contact us and we will be pleased to help.

This is possible. Please contact us for further information.

Again, this is possible. Please contact us for further information.

At Red Gate we believe in keeping things simple for our customers. We understand that per processor licensing is more complicated for our customers, and it means we spend more time administering the licenses and less time developing software. We therefore have a simple, per server pricing and licensing model. You only need one license per server even if you have more than one instance of SQL Server running and even if you have a multiprocessor server. If you are using virtualization to run several instances of Windows on a single physical machine you need one license per virtual machine.

By visiting the relevant licensing page on this website, you can read full license details.