Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

System Database Backups

The system databases are the master, model, msdb, resource, tempdb, and distribution databases. SQL Server uses these databases as part of its internal workings. All these databases should be part of your backup plan, except for resource and tempdb. You can find detailed descriptions of these databases in Chapter 7, “SQL Server System and Database Administration.” The important point to remember about all these databases is that they contain key information about your SQL Server environment. The msdb database contains information about backups and scheduled jobs. The master database contains information about all the user databases stored on the server. This information can change over time.

To ensure that you do not lose ...