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Device Contents (SQL Server)

  • Article

Applies to: SQL Server

Use this dialog box to view the backup information. This information describes the device, the media, the media set, and the backup set or sets.

To use SQL Server Management Studio to view the contents of a backup device

Options

Media
A disk or set of tapes on which backup information is stored.

Media sequence
Lists the media sequence number, the family sequence number, and the mirror identifier, if any. The physical backup media are each tagged with a media sequence number that indicates the order in which the media were used. The initial backup medium is tagged with 1, the second (the first continuation tape) is tagged with 2, and so forth. When the backup set is restored, the media sequence numbers ensure that the operator that restores the backup mounts the correct media in the correct order.

Created on
Displays the media date.

Media Set
A media set is an ordered collection of backup media to which one or more backup operations have written using a constant number of backup devices.

Name
Displays the name of the media set.

Description
Displays the description media set.

Media family count
Displays the media family count. Each media set is a collection of one or more media families. All the output to a given single backup device (or group of mirrored backup devices) forms a single media family. Each media set contains one media family per separate device (or group of mirrored devices); for example, if a media set uses two nonmirrored backup devices, the media set contains two media families.

Backup sets
Displays information about the backup set or sets contained on the media. A backup set is the result of a successful backup operation whose content is distributed among the media on the set of backup devices.

Header Values
Name The name of the backup set.
Type The type of backup performed: Full, Differential or Transaction Log.
Component The backed-up component: Database, File, or <blank> (for transaction logs).
Server The name of the instance of the Database Engine that performed the backup operation.
Database The name of the database that was backed up.
Position The position of the backup set in the volume.
Date The date and time when the backup operation finished, presented in the regional setting of the client.
Size The size of the backup set in bytes.
User Name The name of the user who performed the backup operation.
Expiration The date and time the backup set expires.

See Also

Media Sets, Media Families, and Backup Sets (SQL Server)