Understanding Microsoft SharePoint Server backup and restore options

There are several backup and restore options in Office SharePoint Server 2007, including Web-based Central Administration backup and restore, command-line backup, and the two-stage Recycle Bin.

There are two out-of-the-box options for backing up a full farm: the stsadm command-line tool (stsadm -o backup) and the backup UI in the Central Administration site.

You can also use SQL Server's backup and restore utilities, provided you have a full version of SQL Server. SQL Express does not include a GUI for backup, but you can write a script to automate the backup.

Each option provides a different level of recoverability; we'll discuss the options here, including when to use each.

SharePoint backup/restore tool in central administration

If you're familiar with the Backup/Restore utility in SharePoint Portal Server 2003, one of the first things that you will notice is that the Data Backup and Restore utility is no longer listed as a separate executable.

With MOSS 2007, the Backup and Restore tools are now contained within SharePoint Central Administration. In the Operations tab (see Figure 7.1), there is a section dedicated to Backup and Restore.

Figure 7.1 The Backup and Restore group, located on the Operations page within Central Administration, enables you to perform full and differential backups of your SharePoint farm. (Click on image for enlarged view.)

In addition to the relocation of the Restore tools within SharePoint Central Administration, several new features have been added:

• The ability to select specific farm components for backup. This includes the selection of an entire farm or specific components such as Windows SharePoint Services Web Application, WSS_Administration, Portal Service, Application Registry Service, Core Services, or User Profile Service.
• A better interface for managing backups and restores. The interface is well organized, with clear instructions on expected parameters and intended outcome.
• The ability to do full or differential backups. A full backup backs up the selected content with full history. A differential backup backs up all changes to the selected content since the last full backup.
• More statistics on the backup process. More information is provided about overall disk space usage, status, and errors.

This chapter excerpt from Essential SharePoint 2007, by Scott Jamison, Mauro Cardarelli, and Susan Hanley, is printed with permission from Addison-Wesley Professional, Copyright 2007.

Click here for the chapter download or purchase the book here.