PowerProtect Data Manager 19.9 Microsoft Application Agent SQL Server User Guide

Centralized restores of SQL Server Application Direct backups

When SQL Server data is backed up as part of a SQL Application Direct protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, you can recover the SQL Server Application Direct backups by using the centralized restore functionality in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

You can perform the following types of centralized restores of SQL Application Direct backups, depending on the type of database assets:

• Centralized restore of a system database
• Centralized restore of a stand-alone database
• Centralized restore of an Always On availability group (AAG) database
• Centralized restore of a Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) database
• Centralized restore of an Always On Failover Cluster Instance (AAG over FCI) database

You can restore single or multiple databases from the same SQL host and instance. You can restore the databases either to the original SQL host or to an alternate SQL host with the following requirements:

• The alternate host must be a SQL Application Direct machine.
• The Microsoft application agent software must be installed and configured on the alternate host, as described in Application agent manual installation and configuration.
• You cannot restore a system database to an alternate host or SQL instance.

You must perform all centralized restores from the Restore > Assets > SQL window in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. You can perform a centralized restore of a full, differential, or transaction log backup to a specified SQL host and instance. Select one of the following restore options to specify the file system location where the databases are restored:

• Original file location (location at backup time)—Restores the backup data to the file directory that was used during the backup and overwrites the existing contents.

  NOTE If the directory path cannot be created during the centralized restore, the restore fails.
• Default file location as set by Microsoft SQL Server—Restores the backup data to the default file directory as used by the SQL Server.
• User-specified file location—Restores the backup data to file directories that you specify for the database files and log files.

The following topics describe the considerations, prerequisites, and procedures for the supported types of centralized restores of SQL Application Direct backups.