restoring only the NEW data from a backup file

  • we're given a backup file on a daily basis from a production database server. the file is approximately 4 gb in size and the backup runs approximately midnight each night for about 10 minutes. The backup is a full backup using transact sql

    what i currently do is restore the database into my server so we can use it for reporting purposes. this takes about 35-50 minutes each night in which my database is offline. honestly the offline time doesnt matter to me that much as it is in the wee hours of the morning.

    what i'd like to do is restore only the data that changed in the backupfile into my database.

    my questions are as follows:

    1) will I have to reindex my tables after they are updated? we're talking 500+ tables here so doing them manually will take some time.

    2) how do you go about doing this. i've got the basics of MS SQL 2000 server backup and restore but never delve this deep before. sample code would VERY much be appreciated.

  • Look into "Log Shipping" and "Transactional Replication" in BOL. Both solution will allow you to refresh the changes only from your production database to the reporting database.

  • You could also move to differential backups, but it sounds like log shipping might be the best solution for you.

    Steve Jones

    sjones@sqlservercentral.com

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/sjones

    The Best of SQL Server Central.com 2002 - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/bestof/

    http://www.dkranch.net

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