SQL Server 2008 : Managing Backups - Logical Backup Devices

To create a logical backup device, you can use the sp_addumpdevice system stored procedure. The code in Listing 1 creates a logical backup device named AdventureWorks BackupDevice that points to the physical backup device C:\Backup\AdventureWorks2008.bak. To drop a logical backup device, you can execute the sp_dropdevice system stored procedure followed by the name of the device (also shown in Listing 1).

Example 1. Code to Add and Remove a Logical Backup Device Using T-SQL

USE master
GO
--Add logical backup device
EXEC sp_addumpdevice
        @devtype ='disk',
        @logicalname ='AdventureWorksBackupDevice' ,
        @physicalname ='C:\Backup\AdventureWorks2008.bak'
GO

--Remove logical backup device
EXEC sp_dropdevice 'AdventureWorksBackupDevice'
GO

You can also add a logical backup device using the SQL Server Management Studio GUI. Expand the Server Objects node in the Object Explorer, right-click on the Backup Devices folder, and select New Backup Device from the context menu. This will bring you to the Backup Device dialog box, as shown in Figure 1. Enter the logical device name, device type, and physical location, and then select OK to create the device.

Figure 1. Backup Device dialog General section

Once you create the backup device, the next time you open the Backup Device dialog box, you will see a Media Contents page. You can open the Backup Device dialog box again by double-clicking the appropriate device in the Backup Devices folder. The Media Contents page displays all of the backup sets that are contained in the logical backup device, as shown in Figure 2. We have taken two full backups before opening the dialog box again for demonstration purposes.

Figure 2. Backup Device dialog Media Contents section

You can query the sys.backup_devices catalog view to display a list all of the current logical backup devices, along with the physical device type and location. Figure 3 shows the results for the backup device we created in this section.

Figure 3. Results returned from the sys.backup_devices catalog view