SQL Server Backup and Restore to Cloud Simplified
SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 2 includes enhancements to SQL Server native backup that simplifies backup and restore of a SQL Server Database to Window Azure storage. The SQL
Server database can be either on an on-premises instance of SQL Server or on an instance of SQL Server running in a hosted environment such as Windows Azure Virtual Machine. Read the information below to get a brief introduction to the new functionality and follow the links for more in-depth information.
Benefits:
Flexible, reliable, and limitless off-site storage for improved disaster recovery
Backup Archive
No overhead of hardware management:
Currently for instances of SQL Server running in a Windows Azure Virtual Machine, backing up to Windows Azure Blob storage services can be done by creating attached disks.
In addition, the backup file which now is stored in the Windows Azure Blob storage service is directly available to either an on-premises SQL Server or another SQL Server running in a Windows
Azure Virtual Machine, without the need for database attach/detach or downloading and attaching the VHD.
Cost Benefits
How to use it
To write a backup to Windows Azure Blob storage you must first create a Windows Azure Storage account, create a SQL Server Credential to store storage account authentication information. By using Transact-SQL or SMO you can issue backup and restore commands.
The following Transact-SQL examples illustrate creating a credential, doing a full database backup and restoring the database from the full database backup. For a complete walkthrough of creating a storage account and performing a simple restore.