dbForge SQL Azure Backup
dbForge SQL Azure Backup is an easy GUI tool for creating backup copies of
SQL Azure database to local drive, SQL Server, or Azure Blob Storage for development
or archive purposes.
Use dbForge SQL Azure Backup tool to:
- Create a copy of your SQL Azure database on local SQL Server
- Make an archive copy on your local hard drive
- Restore SQL Azure database from archive
- Schedule periodic backups to your Azure Blob storage
How does dbForge SQL Azure Backup work?
In short, this product allows you to easily create backups as a set of T-SQL scripts
packed into ZIP archive, or just copy cloud database to on-premise SQL Server. SQL
Azure Backup consists of 4 components:
- Windows Azure service
- GUI application to backup databases
- Two console applications: for backup and restore
- PowerShell interface and .NET Framework API
Benefits
Transparent backup format
Our backup is just a simple ZIP archive with T-SQL scripts, which you can run with
any tool like SSMS or sqlcmd. This guarantees that you can restore the database
in any environment.
Charge-free bandwidth
Unlike transmitting data from SQL Azure to your local PC, you don't have to pay
when SQL Azure and the deployed service are in the same region. Thus you'll have
to pay only for storing backups on Blob Storage. Moreover, our engine does not require
temporary disk space and consumes only 20Mb of RAM, what reduces charges for average
disk space usage.
Less space = less expenses
The maximum ZIP compression of T-SQL scripts yields fairly small .zip file, which
is even smaller than the original database .mdf file compressed with ZIP, or compressed
backup .bak file. Storing such small files on Blob Storage will significantly reduce
monthly expenses.
Easy database restoring
The backup consists of three T-SQL scripts: create database itself, create database
objects, fill tables with data. All scripts are compatible with any SQL Server (Azure/2005/2008/2011),
thus you can execute them via any tool, like SSMS or sqlcmd.
Periodical backup by schedule
You can configure the service for Windows Azure to periodically make backup of a
database, what releases you from manual labour. You can specify the lifetime of
a backup file so that the service will delete them to free up the space on Blob
Storage. This will save your money on storing relevant backups only.
Azure prices
When you use dbForge SQL Azure Backup, Microsoft charges you for:
- Data transfer (starting at $0.15 per GB out depending on your region)
- Blob storage ($0.15 per GB stored per month; $0.01 per 10,000 storage transactions)
The prices listed here are guidelines, you should see Microsoft's Azure Pricing
Overview for up-to-date costs.
Prices are correct as of 14 Sep 2011.