The RESTORE command provides the facility to very easily validate a backup (taken via SQL Server, not via 3rd party utilities like SQLLite). This T-SQL code can help in ensuring that the backup file is structurally consistent, and therefore helps rule out I/O issues.
The checks performed by RESTORE VERIFYONLY include (per Books On Line):
- That the backup set is complete and all volumes are readable
- Some header fields of database pages, such as the page ID (as if it were about to write the data)
- Checksum (if present on the media)
- Checking for sufficient space on destination devices
This script has also been published on my blog at: http://beyondrelational.com/blogs/nakul/archive/2011/04/18/a-script-to-verify-a-database-backup.aspx
Before running the script, please substitute the backup location and the code for the database files to suit your database configuration.
Thank-you,
Nakul Vachhrajani,
Be courteous. Drive responsibly.
