Database Backup Files

The SQL Server database is not stored in one Access database in the C:\ROWriterData folder the way it was in R.O. Writer 1.x versions. Instead, the data resides in a SQL database inside a SQL instance on your server computer. This changes the way you back up and recover your databases.

Instead of copying and saving the Access database file, you need to create SQL backup files (a .bak file) in the proper format. R.O. Writer built the Backup Databases utility to manage the database backup and recovery process.

Backup Files

Backup files (.bak) are a compressed and compacted form of the SQL database. You create the .bak file in the Backup Databases utility.

NOTE: You cannot see the data in a .bak file. To see the data in a .bak file, you have to restore the database from that .bak file, open R.O. Writer Client, and point R.O. Writer Client to the database.

Backup File Locations

Backup files (.bak) are never stored on the client workstation. They reside only on the server computer.

Daily and unscheduled .bak files are stored in the following location on the server computer:

All management of backup files needs to happen in the Server Utilities application.

WARNING! If files are deleted or added from these locations in Windows Explorer, the SQL Server log on the server computer is NOT updated and Server Utilities cannot see the changes. If you attempt to restore from a backup file that was deleted in Windows Explorer, you will see an error that prevents you from completing the restoration process.

Backup File Copies

The Backup Databases utility enables you to set up a backup copy location. This is a universal setting for all backups. If you enter a backup copy location, every time a backup file is created, Database Backups creates a copy of that backup file and saves it to that location.

WARNING! It is your responsibility to set a backup copy location. Setting the backup process to save a copy of the backup file to an external location - other than the server - is strongly recommended. If you do not set a backup copy to an external location and something happens to the server, you could lose all your data.

If you need to restore a backup file copied to another location, you must provide R.O. Writer Support with the .bak file. Then, R.O. Writer Support can restore it provided the other defaults are in place.

Backup File Types

There are two types of backup files:

Both types of backup files have the same structure and format. However, each type of backup has a different name so that you can distinguish them from each other.

Daily Backup Files

Daily backup files are named as follows: “[Database name]_[Day of the week the backup was created].bak”.

For example, if the database is named "ROWriter", the name of the backup files is as follows:

Each week, a new backup file saves over the existing backup file for that day of the week. This starts on Monday each week. This means the “..._Monday.bak” file is always for the most recent Monday and so on.

NOTE: If a backup copy location is set, the daily backup files are overwritten each day.

Unscheduled Backup File Names

Unscheduled backup files are named as follows: “Unsched_YYYYMMDD_[HHMMSSMMS].bak”

The time at the end of the file name is in military time to the millisecond (MMS).

These are the backup files created in the Backup Now utility.

Reviewing the Backup Files

All backup files appear