SQL Data Recovery - The Role Of This Software Tool

Even with the intrinsic data protection available in an SQL server database system the requirement of SQL data recovery cannot be entirely avoided. Even with the provision of other data security measures such as RAID (redundant array of disks), hard disk crashes, power-related and other inadvertent failures can result in corruption of the master data file and even the backup file of an SQL database.

During such occasions, the job of a database administrator becomes even more critical. He must ensure that the database must be up and running again as early as possible. The database administrator of a company knows that the occurrence of a database crash with partial data loss cannot be tolerated by the company. This is especially so when that data especially affects its business bottom-line and its relation with its customers.

Most database administrators are aware of the havoc that even partial corruption of the master data file of a database can cause. The database management system (DBMS) has enough safeguards as backup strategies to protect the company's critical data stored in the database. However, it still is possible that even the transaction logs and the backups become corrupted.

So, intelligent database administrators always consider the role of commercial SQL data recovery software. They already have in place the software that helps recover almost all data from corrupted .mdf files and .bak files of the database.

Such software is available in the market in the form of an on-the-shelf or customizable package from data recovery consulting companies. It is also available from some companies in the form of software as a service. The latter form is hosted on a Web site of the company that develops it. The Web-based software is especially useful for businesses that have large databases and work in the distributed environment.

With the use of such specialized software it is possible to recover data from the following.

It can help recover data from damaged RAID hard drives, deleted or corrupted indexes, deleted or damaged tables, table data or partially corrupted schema. It can help in recovery from deleted or damaged primary or foreign keys or a locked database or .mdf (master data file) file. It can help do so from missing triggers or deleted stored procedures. It can also help recover data from lost or dropped tables, accidental deletion of tables or volumes.

Further, the software can help to recover lost data from almost all versions of SQL server. The normal data recovery time taken for data recovery is usually from 1 to 4 days. This depends on the severity of the data corruption and the cause of the database crash. The SQL data recovery software tool therefore serves as an effective bulwark against the incidence of power failures, inadvertent operations and database crashes.