SQL Backup^™

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 5.3.

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 4 and have paid for upgrades, you can obtain a free upgrade to version 5 from our Upgrade Center. If you are using version 4 and have not paid for upgrades, you can still use version 5 through a free 14-day trial. Please note that if you trial and activate version 5, you will replace version 4. We therefore recommend that you trial version 5 on a test server before choosing to purchase a full upgrade of version 5.

Please note that SQL Backup Standard version 4 customers who have a valid support and upgrades contract will be able to upgrade to SQL Backup Standard version 5 in the Upgrade Center. If you do not have a valid support and upgrades contract 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.

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

SQL Backup works with SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 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. You can't do 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 list for further details.

SQL Backup's Timeline Monitoring™ facility in the GUI enables you to visualize potential clashes in future backups, or failed activities in the past. The timeline is highly interactive, allowing you to zoom in and out to view activities as they occur every day or even every minute. A color-coded key in the timeline means that you can identify successful or problematic activities at a glance. One click on the timeline allows you to check the status of activities, and edit their properties to suit your requirements.

Yes. The timeline 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, running over 10 million test backups across many databases, varying in size and complexity, and across over 100 platforms. 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 three compression levels. A Compression Analyzer in the Back Up wizard is also available; it samples data so that you can determine the best compression for your requirements.

Yes, you should see an increase on 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 the Install/Upgrade 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.

Yes. We provide a freely distributable application that converts between the two formats (sqb2mtf.exe).

Yes. SQL Backup provides an intuitive interface to help you set up log shipping jobs.

Yes. We ship a Maintenance Plan Conversion Wizard with SQL Backup 5.3. You can launch the wizard by running the file SQBMaintPlanConv.exe; this file is located in your SQL Backup folder.