With Data Protection for SQL Server, you can verify the
integrity of legacy database backups by setting a checksum option.
About this task
A
checksum is a value that is calculated and written in the data page
header of the database data file. When a data file is read again, the checksum value is
recalculated. Checksum processing validates the values in a file or configuration for
unexpected changes. Values are verified between the current state and the baseline
state.
Restriction: Checksum integrity checking is only available with
legacy backups on SQL Server.
Procedure
- Open the General Properties window in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
- Select Compute SQL Server checksum for legacy
backup.
You can override this global setting and set integrity checking for a
particular backup. For example, if you bypassed integrity checking on all
backups, you can temporarily override this setting for a particular legacy
backup by selecting the SQL Checksum backup option on
the Protect tab for the SQL instance. You can also
issue the SQLCHECKSum option with the
backup command on the command-line interface to
temporarily enable or disable the checksum option.
Results
When you select the Compute SQL Server checksum for legacy
backup check box, the setting is written to the Data Protection for
SQL Server preferences file, tdpsql.cfg, and is applied to all
legacy backup operations. If you clear the check box, integrity checking does not
apply to any legacy database backup.