SQL Server® 2008 Administration: Real World Skills for MCITP Certification and Beyond

Database Snapshots

Database snapshots were first introduced with the release of SQL Server 2005. The snapshots allow you to save the state of your data at the point in time when the snapshot was taken. Snapshots are created with the CREATE DATABASE T-SQL command. Microsoft has not released a GUI interface for the creation of snapshots for one simple reason: The vast majority of database snapshots will be taken using automated scripts. Most DBAs want snapshots of their data at various points in time throughout the day. The best way to accomplish this is through T-SQL scripts.

In the following sections, you'll see the T-SQL commands used to create database snapshots. You'll also look at the command used to drop a snapshot and the command used to ...