SQL Virtual Restore^™

SQL Virtual Restore is fully scriptable with T-SQL's RESTORE DATABASE and RESTORE LOG commands, or you can use the Restore Wizard to access your backups in just four steps.

Please see the requirements page. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email us. We would be more than happy to help.

SQL Virtual Restore is supported for Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (SP 3 or later), SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2.

Full, differential and transaction log backups created with native SQL Server, SQL Backup Pro (version 6.xx), and SQL HyperBac are all supported by SQL Virtual Restore. If you would like to use SQL Virtual Restore with encrypted SQL Backup Pro backups, please decrypt them first. Decryption for all other backup types is supported.

SQL Virtual Restore presents a quick and easy way to mount your backup as a live, fully functional database without the time or space needed for a physical restore. The time it takes to mount your backup is typically on par with a RESTORE VERIFYONLY operation, but with all the benefits a full restore would bring you.

SQL Virtual Restore, like all other products powered by HyperBac®, is installed at the system layer with a single component on the target server. No hooks or links into your SQL Server instances and no extended stored procedures are required, providing a zero-touch deployment.

SQL Virtual Restore is the only third-party virtual database solution on the market that instructs SQL Server to interpret your MDF and LDF files. This means that there will never be any conflicts between how SQL Server and SQL Virtual Restore interpret your backup file as SQL Virtual Restore only handles the mounting of your backup file, and not the interpretation of your data.

Another advantage of SQL Virtual Restore is that it takes into account all rollback and other transactions in the backup, making the mounted database ACID compliant and reinforcing the referential integrity of your data.

Simply point SQL Virtual Restore at your backup file to mount it as a live, fully functional database. The virtual restore is much faster than a normal physical restore, and the mounted database behaves in every way like a normal live database – with a fraction of the storage requirements. You can then run DBCC CHECKDB against the mounted database to be sure that your backup file is not corrupt and that the database is fully functional upon restore. Please see the backup verification walk-through.

Simply point SQL Virtual Restore at your backup file to run point-in-time virtual restore operations. You will have access to full, transactionally consistent data, with all objects visible and available. Please see the object level recovery walk-through.

Yes. Virtually restoring a database backup is much faster than a regular database restore operation. The time it takes is typically on par with a RESTORE VERIFYONLY operation.

Yes. A mounted database carries a near-zero additional storage footprint.

All data and objects are fully accessible using any data access method – SQL Server Management Studio, ADO.NET and Query Analyzer.

SQL Virtual Restore is licensed per server. 'Server' in this context refers to a distinct system running a Windows operating system with SQL Server. You can attach a backup as a live database to the licensed SQL Server.

If you own a license of SQL Virtual Restore 1.xx or earlier, you can download the latest version by logging into your customer account on www.hyperbac.com or by downloading a trial from www.red-gate.com/sqlvirtualrestore and activating the license.

Please note that SQL Virtual Restore customers using version 1.xx and earlier will need to contact Red Gate for a new serial key to activate a version 5 license. This is due to licensing changes in version 2.0. For a new serial key, please contact us.

Please note that this is a major driver upgrade, so existing SQL Virtual Restore customers will need to perform a reboot to complete the upgrade. All products using HyperBac technology on your computer must be updated to use the new engine. Other products using HyperBac technology include SQL HyperBac and SQL Virtual Restore.