Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Evaluating Recovery Models

Recovery models determine how SQL Server uses the transaction log. On OLTP systems, the most appropriate recovery model is generally the Full Recovery model. For OLAP systems, the most appropriate recovery model is generally the simple recovery model. For most development environments, the most appropriate recovery model is usually the simple recovery model as well.

For mission-critical databases, or databases where point-in-time recovery is important, having a transaction log backed up every five minutes may be required. Policy-Based Management can be used to determine whether the appropriate recovery model is in place for each user database for each server type. Central Management Servers could be created for each ...