Differential Backup

Hello,
I am trying to do a differential backup but I have run
into a couple of problems.
I am doing this through the EM by right clicking the db
then selecting backup.
Firstly it doesn't actually seem to work. For a 7mb
database, the first backup is 7mb (which I agree with),
the second backup is also 7mb, rather than a smaller amout
with the difference.
Secondly I would like it to have different files for each
differential backup, currently it writes to one file, so
it keeps increasing from 7, 14, 21 mb.
Can anyone give me some pointers ?
Thanks
PeterPeter
1) Were there some activites in the database since last full backup
2) You will have to build the backup file by yourself .
SELECT @.FileName = 'D:\DatabaseName' + @.Date+'.bak'
BACKUP DATABASE DatabaseName
TO DISK = @.FileName
WITH DIFFERENTIAL
"Peter" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:151e01c3fbbc$37c5d000$a401280a@.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
> I am trying to do a differential backup but I have run
> into a couple of problems.
> I am doing this through the EM by right clicking the db
> then selecting backup.
> Firstly it doesn't actually seem to work. For a 7mb
> database, the first backup is 7mb (which I agree with),
> the second backup is also 7mb, rather than a smaller amout
> with the difference.
> Secondly I would like it to have different files for each
> differential backup, currently it writes to one file, so
> it keeps increasing from 7, 14, 21 mb.
> Can anyone give me some pointers ?
> Thanks
> Peter|||Peter,
I don't think that you will find that diff backup will save storage for such
small databases. At least, that is my experience. Also, a diff backup
contains all modifications since the *latest database backup*! this means
that it will only be bigger and bigger until you do the next database
backup.
IMO, diff backup is not there to replace transaction log backup. It is there
for more advanced configurations to *complement* transaction log backups. Is
there a reason why you don't want to use log backups? There are a number of
nice things that log backups will give you that diff backup wont.
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
Archive at:
http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=...ublic.sqlserver
"Peter" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:151e01c3fbbc$37c5d000$a401280a@.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
> I am trying to do a differential backup but I have run
> into a couple of problems.
> I am doing this through the EM by right clicking the db
> then selecting backup.
> Firstly it doesn't actually seem to work. For a 7mb
> database, the first backup is 7mb (which I agree with),
> the second backup is also 7mb, rather than a smaller amout
> with the difference.
> Secondly I would like it to have different files for each
> differential backup, currently it writes to one file, so
> it keeps increasing from 7, 14, 21 mb.
> Can anyone give me some pointers ?
> Thanks
> Peter