Restore humpty_SQLdumpty?

March 2, 2008 4:15 PM

Through a series of dumb (though possibly dumb-lucky) mistakes and mysterious errors followed by disk failure, I am piecing a SQL (2005) server back together from not exactly optimal ingredients. I need help.

Here's what I have: full backups from 2/18, after which point backups either quit running (more likely) or started deleting themselves in contravention of what I told them to do (nightly folder backups have no new files in them, so I think it just quit working). I also have the log (.ldf) files from the night before everything died.

I sure would like to get that two weeks of data back. I am hoping that nobody diddled with log shrinking in the meantime (let's assume not), so if I'm understanding things correctly these logs, if not backed up in the meantime, cover the duration that backing up was not occurring.

Can I get everything back from those ldf files? Recovery model was full, and I've had no problems restoring those 2/18 backups. The logs from the night before the failure are sequestered elsewhere and haven't yet been touched by the reinstalled SQL. They're expecting to lose all the data from the day the drives died, I really really don't want to tell them it's far worse than that.

If this can be fixed, what do I need to do?

posted by Lyn Never to computers & internet (1 comment total)

As long as the transaction log carries on from the old backup you should be golden, This guide should point you down the right course.

Best of luck!

Turn on e-mail reporting so you know when the backups have failed!
posted by Static Vagabond at 4:45 PM on March 2