Back Up Database (Backup Options Page)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Use the Backup Options page of the Back Up Database dialog box to view or modify database backup options.
To create a backup by using SQL Server Management Studio
Important
You can define a database maintenance plan to create database backups. For more information, see Maintenance Plans and Use the Maintenance Plan Wizard.
Note
When you specify a backup task by using SQL Server Management Studio, you can generate the corresponding Transact-SQLBACKUP script by clicking the Script button and then selecting a destination for the script.
Options
Backup set
The options of the Backup set panel allow for you to specify optional information about the backup set created by the back up operation.
Name
Specify the backup set name. The system automatically suggests a default name based on the database name and the backup type.
For information about backup sets, see Media Sets, Media Families, and Backup Sets (SQL Server).
Description
Enter a description of the backup set. The description value is available in the description column of backupset (Transact-SQL).
Backup set will expire
Choose one of the following expiration options. This option is disabled if URL is chosen as the backup destination.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| After | Specify the number of days that must elapse before this backup set expires and can be overwritten. This value can be from 0 to 99999 days; a value of 0 days means that the backup set will never expire. The default value for backup expiration is the value set in the Default backup media retention (in days) option. To access this, right-click the server name in Object Explorer and select Properties; then click the Database Settings page of the Server Properties dialog box. |
| On | Specify a specific date when the backup set expires and can be overwritten. |
Compression
SQL Server 2008 (10.0.x) Enterprise (or a later version) supports backup compression.
Set backup compression
In SQL Server 2008 (10.0.x) Enterprise (or a later version), select one of the following backup compression values:
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Use the default server setting | Click to use the server-level default. This default is set by the backup compression default server-configuration option. For information about how to view the current setting of this option, see View or Configure the backup compression default Server Configuration Option. |
| Compress backup | Click to compress the backup, regardless of the server-level default. ** Important ** By default, compression significantly increases CPU usage, and the additional CPU consumed by the compression process might adversely impact concurrent operations. Therefore, you might want to create low-priority compressed backups in a session whose CPU usage is limited by Resource Governor. For more information, see Use Resource Governor to Limit CPU Usage by Backup Compression (Transact-SQL). |
| Do not compress backup | Click to create an uncompressed backup, regardless of the server-level default. |
Encryption
To create an encrypted backup, check the Encrypt backup check box. Select an encryption algorithm to use for the encryption step, and provide a Certificate or Asymmetric key from a list of existing certificates or asymmetric keys. The available algorithms for encryption are:
AES 128
AES 192
AES 256
Triple DES
Tip
The encryption option is disabled if you selected to append to existing backup set.
It is recommended practice to back up your certificate or keys and store them in a different location than the backup you encrypted.
Only keys residing in the Extensible Key Management (EKM) are supported.
See Also
BACKUP (Transact-SQL)
Back Up a Transaction Log (SQL Server)
Back Up Files and Filegroups (SQL Server)
Back Up the Transaction Log When the Database Is Damaged (SQL Server)