Red Gate unveils SQL Backup Pro 6

CAMBRIDGE, UK: Red Gate Software has released SQL Backup Pro 6, with network resilience to recover interrupted backup operations, self-healing log shipping, and a new advanced compression algorithm.

“Marketing calls it ‘reassuringly resilient’; I call it the tool for the job,” says Colin Millerchip, SQL Backup Pro 6 product manager. “The new features in version 6 are Red Gate’s answer to backup issues that keep DBAs awake at night, the issues not addressed easily by native SQL Server or other backup software.”

Resilient and self-healing

As implemented in SQL Backup Pro 6, network resilience eliminates the time-consuming forensics required to recover interrupted backup operations following an outage. DBAs can use default settings or settings of their own to designate the length of time SQL Backup Pro 6 waits before retrying a transfer from where it was interrupted and also to determine the number of attempts SQL Backup Pro makes at retrying the backup operation.

If a network outage occurs while transaction log backup files are being copied, SQL Backup Pro 6 keeps a record of the affected files. When the network outage is resolved, the “self-healing” process begins: SQL Backup Pro 6 automatically re-attempts the transfer from where it was interrupted and reprocesses the affected transaction log files.

“Very intuitive. The level of compression is amazing. For the network resilience feature, the number of retries and backup to network shares/SAN drives are excellent options. This utility makes DR work and nightly backups a breeze. The product just works,” said Colin Brown, SQL Backup v6 pre-release tester and Microsoft MVP.

Storing more in less space

When storage space is at a premium, SQL Backup Pro 6 offers a new compression level for maximum backup compression. The software’s compression analyzer enables users to assess which of SQL Backup Pro 6’s four compression levels would be optimal, depending on whether the priority is speed or size of backup.

Other new features in SQL Backup Pro 6 include:

* Ability to skip initialization of the database when performing log shipping if the target database is already set up with a full backup of the source database.
* A “kill existing connections” option to prevent a restore from failing if users are connected to a database while a restore operation is in progress.
* GUI enhancements, including faster loading of data, easier file browsing, and support for different purge options.