Review the Restore Prerequisites and Considerations

Verify that the following prerequisites exist before performing a restore:

• You need Microsoft SQL Server instance before performing a SQL Application restore.

• Review the Compatibility Matrix that provides the supported operating systems, databases, and browsers.

Review the following restore considerations:

• We cannot restore database across an instance. Restore to alternate location in Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) means we can restore database and change its database name and file location. For more information, see Microsoft SQL Server Restore to Alternate Location Considerations.

• If the jobs are not for the same VM, Arcserve UDP allows multiple restore jobs to run at the same time. If you attempt to launch a restore job, while another restore job is running for the same VM, an alert message informs you that another job is running and requests you to try again later.
• Arcserve UDP_agt_windows> only allows one restore job to run at the same time. If you attempt to launch a restore job manually, while another restore job is running, an alert message opens informing you that another job is running and requests you to try again later.

Microsoft SQL Server Restore to Alternate Location Considerations

When you specify to restore a Microsoft SQL Server application to an alternate location, you can either restore it to an alternate location on the same machine or on a different machine.

Prior to performing an Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) restore of a Microsoft SQL Server application to an alternate location, you should consider the following:

If alternate location is on the same machine

For this option, you can either restore a database to a new location (with the same name) or restore with a new name (to the same location):

• Same Name - New Location
• For example, if Database A is installed in the current SQL Server at "C:\DB_A" and has been backed up. You can use this option and specify "Alternate File Location" to restore Database A to an alternate location such as "D:\Alternate_A.
• After the database has been restored, the database file located at the new location "D:\Alternate_A" will then be used.

Important! During restore, if you change the database location but retain the database name, then the previous database will be deleted after the restore is complete. The restored database file will be pointed to the new location.

When you restore to an alternate location, the Instance Name section is unavailable because the Instance Name should always be the same and cannot be changed. As a result, you cannot restore a database to an alternate instance that is currently located on the same MS SQL Server.

• Same Location - New Name
• For example, if you have two databases (Database A and Database B) installed in the current SQL Server and both have been backed up. You can use this option and specify "New database Name" to restore Database A to same location as Database A_New.
• After the databases have been restored, this location will now have three databases (Database A, Database B, and Database A_New).

If alternate location is on the different machine

• The SQL Server installation path must be the same as the path that existed when the backup was performed.
• For example, if the backup of the SQL Server is installed at "C:\SQLServer", then the SQL Server on the new Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) server must also be installed at C:\SQLServer.

• The same instance name for the database that existed when the backup was performed must be installed on Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) server, otherwise the database associated with that instance will be skipped from the restore.
• For example, if the backup of the SQL Server contained "Instance_1" with Database A and Database B and "Instance_2" with Database C, but the Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) server only has "Instance_1". After the restore is complete, Database A and Database B will be restored, but Database C will not be restored.

• The SQL Server version on the Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows) server must be backwards compatible to the version of the SQL Server used during the backup session.
• For example, you can restore a SQL Server 2005 machine to a SQL Server 2008 machine; however, you cannot restore a SQL Server 2008 machine to a SQL Server 2005 machine.

• Restoring a database of 64-bit instance to 32-bit instance is not supported.

Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 AAG Restore Considerations

When restoring a Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 database that is part of an AlwaysOn Availability Group (AAG), there are some considerations that you should be aware of.

• If the MS SQL database is part of the MS SQL 2012/2014 AlwaysOn Availability Group (AAG), and restoring to the original location fails, perform the following tasks:

1. Remove the database to be restored away from the Availability Group. For more information, see the link.
2. Share the backup session to Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows)on every Availability Group node and then restore the session by Arcserve UDP Agent (Windows)on every Availability Group node.
3. Add the database back to an Availability Group. For more information, see the link.