Using SQL Backup to back up to a network share

This article describes best practices for creating backups on network shares using SQL Backup. There are times when you may want to store your backups on a network share, for example, because you do not have enough disk space to store the backups on the local server. If this is the case, you are strongly advised to create the backup locally and then copy to the network share because backing up directly across the network can be problematic:

Network errors may occur during the backup process (for example, outages or data corruption).
SQL Backup's network resilience feature (SQL Backup 6 Pro edition only) can reduce the impact of network outages on backup tasks, but can't prevent them from occurring.
More resources are required than for a local backup.
This can result in increased load on the SQL Server and increased duration for the backup.
By depending on external network resources, backup performance becomes less predictable.

In addition, writing data across a network is slower than transferring data. When you use SQL Backup to create a compressed backup locally and then copy the backup file or files to the network share, you are transferring compressed data, which is much quicker than writing the backup directly to the network share.

The Pro edition of SQL Backup also enables you to encrypt your backups to prevent unauthorized access, making the transfer of the backup files more secure.

Recommended procedure: backing up locally and copying to a network share

When you use SQL Backup to back up and automatically copy the backup files to a network share:

First ensure that the permissions are set up correctly for the network share.
Then use the SQL Backup graphical user interface (GUI) to create the backup locally and automatically copy it to a network share. The exact steps differ slightly depending on whether you're using the SQL Backup 5 GUI or the SQL Backup 6 GUI.
If you need to restore the backup from the copy on the network share at a later date, you can use the SQL Backup Restore wizard to do this.

1. Security and permissions

The SQL Backup process is controlled by a dedicated SQL Backup Agent Service application for each SQL Server instance.

Before you can create a backup and copy it to a network share, you must ensure that the SQL Backup Agent Service application permissions are set up appropriately. The 'log on' details for the SQL Backup Agent to connect to the SQL Server (the startup account) must have access to the folder in which the backup is to be created, and it must have BACKUP DATABASE permissions to the SQL Server.

If you do not want to grant BACKUP DATABASE permissions to the SQL Backup Agent's startup account, for additional security you can configure a SQL security login to connect to the SQL Server. For detailed information about this, see Security model.

If necessary, you can copy the backup files to a network share that is 'locked down'. To do this, you will need to set up a different security model. This is also documented in Security model.

2. Creating the backup locally

When you have set up the permissions appropriately, in the SQL Backup graphical user interface, complete the wizard settings in the usual way. See Creating backups (version 5/version 6) and Scheduling backup jobs (version 5/version 6).

Ensure that you:

Specify a local folder for the backup location folder (Step 3 in the Backup wizard, and Step 4 in the Schedule Backup Jobs wizard).
Select the Copy backup to network check box, specify the network share, and then click Test to check whether you have the necessary permissions to write to the network share. If you are using the SQL Backup 6 graphical user interface, this is on Step 3 in the Backup wizard, and Step 4 in the Schedule Backup Jobs wizard.

If you are using the SQL Backup 5 graphical user interface, this in on Step 4 in the Backup wizard, and step 5 in the Schedule Backup Jobs wizard.

When the backup job is run, SQL Backup will create the backup file or files in the local folder, and then copy to the network share.

3. Restoring a backup from a copy on a network share

When you need to restore a backup from a file (or set of files) that SQL Backup has copied to a network share, you are recommended to first copy the files to a local folder. This minimizes the problems that can occur when transferring data over the network.

You can use the SQL Backup Restore wizard to restore the backups. However, because the backup files are copies, the Restore wizard will not automatically locate them; you must select Browse for backup files to restore and then browse to the files by clicking Add Files.

When you have added all the backup files in the backup set, you can continue using the Restore wizard in the usual way. For details, see Restoring backups.

Backing up directly to a network share

For reasons described in the introduction, we recommended you do not back up directly to a network share. However, if you decide that this is what you want to do, SQL Backup can create backups directly on a network share.

To do this, in addition to the permissions described for local backups in Security model, the startup user for the SQL Backup Agent Service application must have Full permissions on the network share address.

The following procedure describes how you grant the permissions using Microsoft® Windows® XP; refer to your Microsoft Windows documentation for full details for your operating system.

In Windows Explorer, right-click on the folder in which you want to create the backups, and then click Sharing and Security.
Select Share this folder, and set the properties of the share as required.
Click Permissions, and on the Share Permissions dialog box, click Add.
On the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, grant full access to the account used by the SQL Backup Agent Service application.
Click OK on all of the dialog boxes.

You can then use the Back Up wizard or the Schedule Backup Jobs wizard to set up the backup job; on the Configure backup file settings page, specify the network share for the backup location folder. For full details, see Creating backups (version 5/version 6) and Scheduling backup jobs (version 5/version 6).

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