Back Up Database (Options Page)

The options of the Overwrite media panel control how the backup is written to the media.

Note
For information about media sets, see Media Sets, Media Families, and Backup Sets (SQL Server).

Back up to the existing media set

Back up a database to an existing media set. Selecting this option button activates three options.

Choose one of the following options:

Append to the existing backup set

Append the backup set to the existing media set, preserving any prior backups.

Overwrite all existing backup sets

Replace any prior backups on the existing media set with the current backup.

Check media set name and backup set expiration

Optionally, if backing up to an existing media set, require the backup operation to verify the name and the expiration date of the backup sets.

Media set name

If Check media set name and backup set expiration is selected, optionally, specify the name of the media set to be used for this backup operation.

Back up to a new media set, and erase all existing backup sets

Use a new media set, erasing the previous backup sets.

Clicking this option activates the following options:

New media set name

Optionally, enter a new name for the media set.

New media set description

Optionally, enter a meaningful description of the new media set. This description should be specific enough to communicate the contents accurately.

The options of the Transaction log panel control error management by the backup operation.

Verify backup when finished

Verify that the backup set is complete and that all volumes are readable.

Perform checksum before writing to media

Verify the checksums before writing to the backup media. Selecting this option is equivalent to specifying the CHECKSUM option in the BACKUP statement of Transact-SQL. Selecting this option may increase the workload, and decrease the backup throughput of the backup operation. For information about backup checksums, see Possible Media Errors During Backup and Restore (SQL Server).

Continue on error

The backup operation is to continue even after encountering one or more errors.

The options of the Transaction log panel control the behavior of a transaction log backup. These options are relevant only under the full recovery model or bulk-logged recovery model. They are activated only if Transaction log has been selected in the Backup type field on the General page of the Back Up Database dialog box.

Note
For information about transaction log backups, see Transaction Log Backups (SQL Server).

Truncate the transaction log

Back up the transaction log and truncate it to free log space. The database remains online. This is the default option.

Back up the tail of the log, and leave the database in the restoring state

Back up the tail of the log and leave the database in a restoring state. This option creates a tail-log backup, which backs up logs that have not yet been backed up (the active log), typically, in preparation for restoring a database. The database will be unavailable to users until it is completely restored.

Selecting this option is equivalent to specifying WITH NO_TRUNCATE, NORECOVERY in a BACKUP statement (Transact-SQL). For more information, see Tail-Log Backups (SQL Server).

The options of the Tape drive panel control tape management during the backup operation. These options are activated only if Tape has been selected in the Destination panel on the General page of the Back Up Database dialog box.

Note
For information about how to use tape devices, see Backup Devices (SQL Server).

Unload the tape after backup

After the backup is complete, unload the tape.

Rewind the tape before unloading

Before unloading the tape, release and rewind it. This is enabled only if Unload the tape after backup is selected.

SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (or a later version) supports backup compression.

Set backup compression

In SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (or a later version), select one of the following backup compression values:

Use the default server setting	Click to use the server-level default. This default is set by the backup compression default server-configuration option. For information about how to view the current setting of this option, see View or Configure the backup compression default Server Configuration Option.
Compress backup	Click to compress the backup, regardless of the server-level default. Important By default, compression significantly increases CPU usage, and the additional CPU consumed by the compression process might adversely impact concurrent operations. Therefore, you might want to create low-priority compressed backups in a session whose CPU usage is limited by Resource Governor. For more information, see Use Resource Governor to Limit CPU Usage by Backup Compression (Transact-SQL).
Do not compress backup	Click to create an uncompressed backup, regardless of the server-level default.