Introducing Arcserve Backup Agents and Options › Using Agents › Agent for Microsoft SQL Server › Backup and Recovery Best Practices › Backup Concepts › Backup Considerations-MSSQLSvrW › Backup Strategy Recommendations › Full Backups

Full Backups

A Full Database backup creates a copy of the entire database at the time the backup command was executed, including all schema data, user data, Files and FileGroups and part of the Transaction Log, regardless whether that data has changed since the last backup. However, it is important to perform regular and separate Transaction Log backups in order to capture the entire Log file and truncate the log so it does not grow too large.

A Full backup can be ordered from the Backup Method selections of the Agent Options, from the Global Agent Options, or from the Rotation options in the Job Scheduler.

If you select a Full backup from the Agent Options dialog, you may refine the backup job by setting Database Subset options. For example:

• Combine a "Full" Backup Method with an "Entire Database" Database Subset selection to back up all schema, data, Files and FileGroups, regardless if data has changed.
• Combine a "Full" Backup Method with a "Files and FileGroups" Database Subset selection to back up all files from specific FileGroups in their entirety or to isolate specific data files. If you use FileGroups to separate Read-Only files from Read-Write files, this is one way to limit how often your Read-only FileGroups are backed up.
• Combine a "Full" Backup Method with a "Partial Database" Database Subset selection to back up all files in all Read/Write FileGroups, including the Primary FileGroup, regardless if data has changed.