Introduction
Database backups are an essential part of any business continuity and disaster recovery strategy, because they help protect your data from corruption or deletion. These backups enable database restore to a point in time within the configured retention period.By default, Azure SQL Database & Azure SQL Managed Instance stores data in geo-redundantstorage blobsthat are replicated to apaired region. Geo-redundancy helps protect against outages that affect backup storage in the primary region. It also allows you to restore your databases/instance to a different region in the event of a regional outage/disaster.
Backup frequency
Azure SQL Managed Instance creates:
- Full backupsevery week.
- Differential backupsevery 12 to 24 hours.
- Transaction log backupsevery 5-10 minutes.
The frequency of transaction log backups is based on the compute size and the amount of database activity. When you restore a database, the service determines which full, differential, and transaction log backups need to be restored.
How to monitor Azure SQL Database History backups
Azure SQL DatabaseBackup History introduced a newDynamic Management View(DMV)calledSys.dm_database_backups, that contains metadata information on all the active backups that are needed for enabling point-in-time restore within configured retention. Metadata information includes:
- Backup_file_id – Backup file ID
- Database_guid –Logical Database ID
- Physical_Database_name – Physical Database Name
- Server_name – Physical Server Name
- Backup_start_date – Backup Start Timestamp
- Backup_finish_date – Backup End Timestamp
- Backup_Type – Type of Backup. D stands for Full Database Backup, L – Stands for Log Backup and I – Stands for differential backup
- In_Retention – Whether backup is within retention period or not. 1 stands for within retention period and 0 stands for out of retention
Examples
To query all the history backups for all the databases in Azure SQL Database, use the below T-SQL:
SELECT db.name , backup_start_date , backup_finish_date , CASE backup_type WHEN 'D' THEN 'Full' WHEN 'I' THEN 'Differential' WHEN 'L' THEN 'Transaction Log' END AS BackupType , CASE in_retention WHEN 1 THEN 'In Retention' WHEN 0 THEN 'Out of Retention' END AS is_Backup_AvailableFROM sys.dm_database_backups AS ddbINNER MERGE JOIN sys.databases AS db ON ddb.physical_database_name = db.physical_database_nameORDER BY backup_start_date DESC;To query all the history backups for a specific database in Azure SQL Database,use the below T-SQL:
SELECT db.name , backup_start_date , backup_finish_date , CASE backup_type WHEN 'D' THEN 'Full' WHEN 'I' THEN 'Differential' WHEN 'L' THEN 'Transaction Log' END AS BackupType , CASE in_retention WHEN 1 THEN 'In Retention' WHEN 0 THEN 'Out of Retention' END AS is_Backup_AvailableFROM sys.dm_database_backups AS ddbINNER MERGE JOIN sys.databases AS db ON ddb.physical_database_name = db.physical_database_nameWHERE db.name = 'SampleDB' ORDER BY backup_start_date DESC;How to monitor Azure SQL Managed Instance History backups
Currently there is no DMVs to query all the history backups just like Azure SQL Database. So, you need to useExtended Events or XEventssessions to track backups. Azure SQL Managed Instance offers two types of xEvents sessions to track backups:
- Simple xEvent session which tracks the full backups
- Verbose xEvent session which tracks all backups types (Full, Differential and Log)
Storing data in the ring buffer:
By using this option; you have a limit of about 1000 messages so should only be used to track recent activity.Additionally, ring buffer data is lost upon failover.
Examples
To query the Simple xEvent session for all the databases in Azure SQL Managed Instance, use the below T-SQL:
WITHa AS (SELECT xed = CAST(xet.target_data AS xml)FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xetJOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xeON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)WHERE xe.name = 'Backup trace'),b AS(SELECTd.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_messageFROM aCROSS APPLY xed.nodes('/RingBufferTarget/event') d(n)INNER JOIN master.sys.databases dbON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))SELECT * FROM bResults sample:
To query the Verbose xEvent session for all the databases in Azure SQL Managed Instance, use the below T-SQL:
WITHa AS (SELECT xed = CAST(xet.target_data AS xml)FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xetJOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xeON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)WHERE xe.name = 'Verbose backup trace'),b AS(SELECTd.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_messageFROM aCROSS APPLY xed.nodes('/RingBufferTarget/event') d(n)LEFT JOIN master.sys.databases dbON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))SELECT * FROM bWHERE trace_message LIKE 'BACKUP DATABASE%'Results sample for differential and full backups:
Results sample for log backups:
Storing data in the event file:
By using this option; you have the below advantages:
- Can store more than1000 message.
- Track recent and old activities.
- Your event file(s) will not be affected by any failover.
- You can view history backup results for any period you want.
As for the disadvantages, I believe consuming the available space of your blob storage is the major one. So, you need to keep deleting unwanted event file(s) from your blob (ex., older than 3 or 6-months).
Configure XEvent session to store data in an event file:
------ Step 1. Create key, and ------------------ Create credential (your Azure Storage container must already exist).IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.symmetric_keys WHERE symmetric_key_id = 101)BEGIN CREATE MASTER KEY ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = '0C34C960-6621-4682-A123-C7EA08E3FC46' -- Or any newid().ENDGOIF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.credentials -- TODO: Assign AzureStorageAccount name, and the associated Container name. WHERE name = 'https://<StorageAccountName>.blob.core.windows.net/<StorageBlobName>')BEGIN DROP CREDENTIAL -- TODO: Assign AzureStorageAccount name, and the associated Container name. [https://<StorageAccountName>.blob.core.windows.net/<StorageBlobName>] ;ENDGOCREATE CREDENTIAL -- use '.blob.', and not '.queue.' or '.table.' etc. -- TODO: Assign AzureStorageAccount name, and the associated Container name. [https://<StorageAccountName>.blob.core.windows.net/<StorageBlobName>] WITH IDENTITY = 'SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE', -- "SAS" token. -- TODO: Paste in the long SasToken string here for Secret, but exclude any leading '?'. SECRET = '<SAS TOKEN HERE>' ;GOFor configuring Simple backup trace xEvent session use:
------ Step 2. Create (define) an event session. -------------- The event session has an event with an action,------ and a has a target.IF EXISTS (SELECT * from sys.database_event_sessions WHERE name = 'Simple backup trace')BEGIN DROP EVENT SESSION [Simple backup trace] ON SERVER;ENDGO-- Create the sessionCREATE EVENT SESSION [Simple backup trace] ON SERVER ADD EVENT sqlserver.backup_restore_progress_trace( WHERE ( [operation_type]=(0) AND [trace_message] like '%100 percent%' ) ADD TARGET package0.event_file ( -- TODO: Assign AzureStorageAccount name, and the associated Container name. -- Also, tweak the .xel file name at end, if you like. SET filename = 'https://<StorageAccountName>.blob.core.windows.net/<StorageBlobName>/myserver_simple_backup_trace.xel' )WITH (MAX_MEMORY=4096 KB,EVENT_RETENTION_MODE=ALLOW_SINGLE_EVENT_LOSS, MAX_DISPATCH_LATENCY=30 SECONDS,MAX_EVENT_SIZE=0 KB,MEMORY_PARTITION_MODE=NONE, TRACK_CAUSALITY=OFF,STARTUP_STATE=ON)-- Start the sessionALTER EVENT SESSION [Simple backup trace] ON SERVERSTATE = start;For configuring Verbose backup trace xEvent session use:
------ Step 2. Create (define) an event session. -------------- The event session has an event with an action,------ and a has a target.IF EXISTS (SELECT * from sys.database_event_sessions WHERE name = 'Verbose backup trace')BEGIN DROP EVENT SESSION [Verbose backup trace] ON SERVER;ENDGO-- Create the sessionCREATE EVENT SESSION [Verbose backup trace] ON SERVER ADD EVENT sqlserver.backup_restore_progress_trace( WHERE ( [operation_type]=(0) AND ( [trace_message] like '%100 percent%' OR [trace_message] like '%BACKUP DATABASE%' OR [trace_message] like '%BACKUP LOG%')) ) ADD TARGET package0.event_file ( -- TODO: Assign AzureStorageAccount name, and the associated Container name. -- Also, tweak the .xel file name at end, if you like. SET filename = 'https://<StorageAccountName>.blob.core.windows.net/<StorageBlobName>/myserver_verbose_backup_trace.xel' )WITH (MAX_MEMORY=4096 KB,EVENT_RETENTION_MODE=ALLOW_SINGLE_EVENT_LOSS, MAX_DISPATCH_LATENCY=30 SECONDS,MAX_EVENT_SIZE=0 KB,MEMORY_PARTITION_MODE=NONE, TRACK_CAUSALITY=OFF,STARTUP_STATE=ON)-- Start the sessionALTER EVENT SESSION [Verbose backup trace] ON SERVERSTATE = start;How the event file(s) looks like in blob container (Portal):
Examples
To query the Simple or Verbose xEvent session for all the databases in Azure SQL Managed Instance, enter the xel-file name from the above storage blob event files as shown in the below T-SQL:
WITH dxml AS(SELECT event_data_XML = CAST(event_data AS XML) FROMsys.fn_xe_file_target_read_file(-- TODO: Fill in Storage Account name, and the associated Container name.-- TODO: The name of the .xel file needs to be an exact match to the files in the storage account Container (You can use Storage Account explorer from the portal to find out the exact file names or you can retrieve the name using the following DMV-query: select target_data from sys.dm_xe_database_session_targets. The 3rd xml-node, "File name", contains the name of the file currently written to.)'https://<StorageAccountName>.blob.core.windows.net/<StorageBlobName>/myserver_simple_backup_trace_0_133093902657060000.xel',null, null, null)), bkp AS(SELECTd.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(@name)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_messageFROM dxmlCROSS APPLY event_data_XML.nodes('/event') d(n)LEFT JOIN master.sys.databases dbON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))SELECT * FROM bkp For more information about monitoring history backups, please refer to the below articles:
- Automated backups in Azure SQL Database
- Azure SQL DB Backup History - View backups of your Azure SQL Database
- Monitor backup activity for Azure SQL Managed Instance
- Event File target code for extended events in Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance
FAQs
What type of backups can be made on an Azure SQL Database managed instance? ›
SQL Server Managed Backup to Microsoft Azure agent only supports database full and log backups. File backup automation is not supported. The Microsoft Azure Blob Storage is the only supported backup storage option. Backups to disk or tape are not supported.
What is the backup frequency of Azure SQL Managed instance? ›Backup frequency
Azure SQL Managed Instance creates: Full backups every week. Differential backups every 12 to 24 hours.
To recover a database by using the Azure portal, open the managed instance's overview page and select Backups. Choose to show Deleted backups, and then select Restore next to the deleted backup you want to recover to open the Create Azure SQL Managed Database page.
How often does the Azure platform run a full backup of your Azure SQL Database or managed instance databases? ›Azure SQL Database schedules one full backup every week. To provide PITR within the entire retention period, the system must store additional full, differential, and transaction log backups for up to a week longer than the configured retention period.
How do I check my Azure SQL Database backup? ›In the Azure portal, navigate to your server and then select Backups. To view the available LTR backups for a specific database, select Manage under the Available LTR backups column. A pane will appear with a list of the available LTR backups for the selected database.
What are two types of backups that could be taken in SQL Server? ›- Full Backup. A full backup is a complete backup of your SQL Server database. ...
- Differential Backup. A differential backup contains only the data that has been changed since the last full database backup was created. ...
- Transaction Log Backup.
- CREATE INDEX: Creates new indices that can improve the performance.
- DROP INDEX: Drops redundant and unused indices (>90 days)
- FORCE LAST GOOD PLAN: Identifies queries using the last known good execution plan.
Azure Virtual Machine backup policy supports a minimum retention range from seven days up to 9999 days. Any modification to an existing VM backup policy with less than seven days will require an update to meet the minimum retention range of seven days.
Which Azure SQL Database provides the fastest recovery time? ›Fast geo-recovery - When active geo-replication is configured, the Business Critical tier has a guaranteed Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 30 seconds for 100% of deployed hours.
How long to restore Azure SQL database? ›If you are using automated backups with geo-redundant storage (the default storage option when you create your instance), you can recover the database using geo-restore. Recovery usually takes place within 12 hours - with data loss of up to one hour determined by when the last log backup was taken and replicated.
How do I backup my SQL database to Azure storage? ›
- Open the Azure portal.
- Navigate to your Storage Account.
- Select the storage account, scroll down to Blob Services.
- Select Blobs and then select + Container to add a new container.
- Enter the name for the container and make note of the container name you specified. ...
- Select OK.
You can keep data in interactive retention between 4 and 730 days. You can set the archive period for a total retention time of up to 2,556 days (seven years). To set the retention and archive duration for a table in the Azure portal: From the Log Analytics workspaces menu, select Tables.
Does Azure Backup backup all disks? ›Azure Backup supports backing up all the disks (operating system and data) in a VM together using the virtual machine backup solution.
How do I check my Azure portal backup history? ›Sign in to the Azure portal. Open the vault dashboard. On the Backup Items tile, select Azure Virtual Machine. On the Backup Items pane, you can view the list of protected VMs and last backup status with latest restore points time.
How do I check SQL backup progress? ›Open SSMS, right click on a database then select Tasks > Back Up. A screen similar to the below image will open. After you select all of the backup options and click OK, you can monitor the progress on the lower left side of the GUI as shown in the below image. This will give you an idea of the status of the backup.
Does Azure SQL Database perform the automated backup? ›Automated Backup
This service is provided by the SQL Server IaaS Agent Extension, which is automatically installed on SQL Server Windows virtual machine images in the Azure portal. All databases are backed up to an Azure storage account that you configure. Backups can be encrypted and retained for up to 90 days.
Checking backup history in SQL Server can be done by looking at the SQL Server error log, which will contain information about successful and failed backups. You can also use the SQL Server Management Studio to view backup history, or query the msdb system tables.
How do I manage SQL backups? ›- Launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to your SQL Server instance.
- Expand the Databases node in Object Explorer.
- Right-click the database, hover over Tasks, and select Back up....
- Under Destination, confirm that the path for your backup is correct.
- Onsite backups. Creating an onsite backup of your database can get you back to work quickly if your server crashes. ...
- Storage of older backups. ...
- Offsite backup. ...
- Data center standards. ...
- Data transmission controls. ...
- Backup schedule. ...
- Automatic cloud backup. ...
- Quick and simple restore.
Copy-Only backups can be taken regardless of the recovery model of the database. Only full and transaction log backups can be created using the Copy-Only option. Differential Copy-Only backups are not supported.
What are the best practices for SQL database in Azure? ›
Best practice rules for Sql
Ensure that Azure SQL database servers are accessible via private endpoints only. Ensure there is a sufficient PITR backup retention period configured for Azure SQL databases. Ensure that no SQL databases allow unrestricted inbound access from 0.0. 0.0/0 (any IP address).
- Navigate to the database in the Azure portal.
- Under Intelligent Performance in the left menu, select Query Performance Insight.
- Open the Custom tab in Query Performance Insight for the selected database.
- Change the metrics to duration.
- Select the number of queries and the observation interval.
- Select the aggregation function: ...
- Select the Go > button to see the customized view.
Optimize schedule and retention settings based on workload archetypes (such as mission-critical, non-critical). Optimize retention settings for Instant Restore. Choose the right backup type to meet requirements, while taking supported backup types (full, incremental, log, differential) by the workload in Azure Backup.
What is the highest frequency Azure Backup? ›You can back up Windows Server or Windows machines up to three times a day. You can set the scheduling policy to daily or weekly schedules. You can back up DPM up to twice a day. You can set the scheduling policy to daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
What is the Azure Backup lifecycle? ›A lifecycle policy enables you to move your backups between storage tiers after a specified number of days. For example, you back up data to a Hot tier, then your backup data is moved automatically to a Cool storage after 30 days, and then this data is moved to Archive tier automatically after 60 days.
Which Azure instance is best for SQL Server? ›The Ebdsv5-series VMs offer the best price-performance for SQL Server workloads running on Azure virtual machines and we strongly recommend them for most of your production SQL Server workloads.
What is the size of Azure SQL Managed Instance? ›Maximum size of each data file is 8 TB. Use at least two data files for databases larger than 8 TB.
How do I copy data from SQL Server to Azure SQL Database? ›- Create a data factory.
- Create a self-hosted integration runtime.
- Create SQL Server and Azure Storage linked services.
- Create SQL Server and Azure Blob datasets.
- Create a pipeline with a copy activity to move the data.
- Start a pipeline run.
- Monitor the pipeline run.
Copy or move database
To do so: Go to your managed instance in the Azure portal. Under Data management, select Databases. Select one or more databases, and then select either the Copy or Move option at the top of the pane.
When using an Azure SQL Database Managed Instance What is the simplest way to implement Backups? ›
4. When using an Azure SQL database managed instance, what is the simplest way to implement backups? Ans. : C. Backups are automatically handled Explanation : Migrating to Azure SQL Database ma…
Which of the following is not supported by SQL managed instance? ›Procedures and Triggers are not supported in the Azure SQL Managed Instance.
What setting can you control for Azure SQL Database backups by using backup policies? ›You can configure backup storage redundancy for databases in Azure SQL Database when you create your database. You can also change the storage redundancy after the database is already created. Backup storage redundancy changes made to existing databases apply to future backups only.
What is the page life expectancy of Azure SQL Database? ›Page Life Expectancy (PLE) is an age of a data page in seconds in the buffer cache or buffer memory after querying the tables with the loading data page into the buffer memory. Page Life Expectancy value indicates the memory pressure in allocated memory to the SQL Server instance.
What is the backup frequency of Azure SQL Database? ›Backup frequency
Azure SQL Managed Instance creates: Full backups every week. Differential backups every 12 to 24 hours. Transaction log backups every 10 minutes.
To recover a database by using the Azure portal, open the managed instance's overview page and select Backups. Choose to show Deleted backups, and then select Restore next to the deleted backup you want to recover to open the Create Azure SQL Managed Database page.
How do you backup Azure SQL Database and restore locally? ›To recover a database to a point in time by using the Azure portal, open the database overview page and select Restore on the toolbar. Choose the backup source, and then select the point-in-time backup point from which a new database will be created.
What is the difference between Azure Monitor and Azure Monitor logs? ›Azure Monitor Metrics can only store numeric data in a particular structure, whereas Azure Monitor Logs can store a variety of data types that have their own structures. You can also perform complex analysis on Azure Monitor Logs data by using log queries, which can't be used for analysis of Azure Monitor Metrics data.
What are the limitations of Azure Monitor? ›| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of data flows | 10 |
| Maximum number of data streams | 10 |
| Maximum number of extensions | 10 |
| Maximum size of extension settings | 32 Kb |
Data platform
Azure Monitor stores data in data stores for each of the pillars of observability: metrics, logs, distributed traces, and changes. Each store is optimized for specific types of data and monitoring scenarios.
How many types of backups are there in Azure *? ›
Multiple storage options - Azure Backup offers three types of replication to keep your storage/data highly available. Locally redundant storage (LRS) replicates your data three times (it creates three copies of your data) in a storage scale unit in a datacenter. All copies of the data exist within the same region.
How often does Azure backup run? ›Azure VMs: Once a day. Machines protected by DPM/MABS: Twice a day. Machines backed up directly by using the MARS agent: Three times a day. Backup is within a region.
What is the advantage of using Azure backup? ›Azure Backup is a centralized backup service and solution that helps organizations protect their data. Azure Backup eliminates infrastructure costs, is simple and intuitive to use, and empowers organizations to easily backup and restore an entire VM, files, folders, or SQL database.
How do I monitor SQL VM in Azure? ›Create SQL monitoring profile. Open SQL Insights (preview) by selecting SQL (preview) from the Insights section of the Azure Monitor menu in the Azure portal. Select Create new profile. The profile will store the information that you want to collect from your SQL systems.
What is the difference between backup and snapshot in Azure? ›The main distinction between backups and snapshots is that backups are independent, self-contained files that don't require cross-file dependencies to restore a VM, whereas snapshots rely on dependent files for VM restoration.
Which SQL system database tracks backup activity? ›Azure SQL Managed Instance stores backup information in the msdb database and also emits events (also known as Extended Events or XEvents) during backup activity for the purpose of reporting.
How do I backup my Azure managed database? ›- In your Recovery Services vault, choose Backup items.
- Select "SQL in Azure VM".
- Right-click on a database, and choose "Backup now".
- Choose the Backup Type (Full/Differential/Log/Copy Only Full) and Compression (Enable/Disable). ...
- Select OK to begin the backup.
Types of backups
A special-use backup that is independent of the regular sequence of SQL Server backups. A backup of data in a complete database (a database backup), a partial database (a partial backup), or a set of data files or filegroups (a file backup).
- Automated Backups. Turned on by default, the automated backup feature of Amazon RDS will backup your databases and transaction logs. ...
- Point-in-time Restores. ...
- Database Snapshots. ...
- Snapshot Copies. ...
- Snapshot Sharing.
Azure Backup backs up Azure VMs by installing an extension to the Azure VM agent running on the machine. If your VM was created from an Azure Marketplace image, the agent is installed and running.
What is the maximum of days that logs are retained the backup directory? ›
For most Microsoft products, data retention is 30 days.
What are the methods of SQL backup? ›- Full backup.
- Differential backup.
- Transaction log backup.
The most common backup types are a full backup, incremental backup and differential backup. Other backup types include synthetic full backups and mirroring.
What are the four primary types of backups? ›Each backup program has its own approach in executing the backup, but there are four common types of backup implemented and generally used in most of these programs: full backup, differential backup, incremental backup and mirror backup.
What are the four most common types of backup? ›The four main types of data backup include a full backup, incremental backup, differential backup and mirror backup.
What is the difference between RDS snapshots and backups? ›The main difference between snapshots and backups is that the latter is isolated from the mainframe. That means snapshot copies are stored on the original network, unlike backup copies. Snapshots work well for frequent protection measured in minutes or hours while backups are used for regular protection.
What are the 5 types of storage in Azure? ›- Azure Blob Storage. Blob is one of the most common Azure storage types. ...
- Azure Files. Azure Files is Microsoft's managed file storage in the cloud. ...
- Azure Queue Storage. ...
- Azure Table. ...
- Azure Managed Disks.
There are three main disk roles in Azure: the data disk, the OS disk, and the temporary disk.
What is the disadvantages of Azure Backup? ›The biggest disadvantage to using Azure Backup, though, is that it is disjointed. While the name might lead to the assumption it is solely a cloud-based backup product, it is actually a collection of several different backup components.