Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Copy-Only Backups

If you want a backup that will not affect future or past backups, copy-only backups are for you. The copy-only backup allows you to make a database or log backup without identifying the backup as one that should be included in a restore sequence.

Contrast this with a full database backup: If a full database backup is taken, the information related to this backup is captured in the system tables. This backup can form the base for other backups, such as transaction log backups or differential backups, and must be retained to be able to restore the backups that depend on the base.

The following example shows a copy-only backup; the COPY_ONLY parameter is the key to creating this kind of backup:

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BACKUP ...