Merge pull request #224047 from AbhishekMallick01/Jan-6-2022-QS

QS freshness - article updates

Author: Maggiemouse1

articles/backup/backup-azure-sql-mabs.md

@@ -1,26 +1,34 @@
 ---
 title: Back up SQL Server by using Azure Backup Server
 description: In this article, learn the configuration to back up SQL Server databases by using Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS).
-ms.topic: conceptual
-ms.date: 07/28/2021
+ms.topic: how-to
+ms.date: 01/16/2023
+author: jyothisuri
+ms.author: jsuri
+ms.service: backup
+ms.custom: engagement-fy23
 ---
+
 # Back up SQL Server to Azure by using Azure Backup Server
 
-Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS) provides backup and recovery for SQL Server databases. In addition to backing up SQL Server databases, you can run a system backup or full bare-metal backup of the SQL Server computer. Here's what MABS can protect:
+This article describes how to back up and restore SQL Server to Azure by using Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS).
+
+Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS) provides backup and recovery for SQL Server databases. In addition to backing up SQL Server databases, you can run a system backup or full bare-metal backup of the SQL Server computer. You can use MABS to protect:
 
 - A standalone SQL Server instance
 - A SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI)
 
->[!Note]
->MABS v3 UR2 supports SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) using Cluster Shared Volume (CSV).
->
->Protection of SQL Server FCI with Storage Spaces Direct on Azure, and SQL Server FCI with Azure shared disks is supported with this feature. The DPM server must be deployed in the Azure Virtual Machine to protect the SQL FCI instance, deployed on the Azure VMs.
->
->A SQL Server Always On availability group with theses preferences:
->- Prefer Secondary
->- Secondary only
->- Primary
->- Any Replica
+## Supported scenarios
+
+- MABS v3 UR2 supports SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) using Cluster Shared Volume (CSV).
+- Protection of SQL Server FCI with Storage Spaces Direct on Azure, and SQL Server FCI with Azure shared disks is supported with this feature. The DPM server must be deployed in the Azure Virtual Machine to protect the SQL FCI instance, deployed on the Azure VMs.
+- A SQL Server Always On availability group with theses preferences:
+  - Prefer Secondary
+  - Secondary only
+  - Primary
+  - Any Replica
+
+## SQL Server database protection workflow
 
 To back up a SQL Server database and recover it from Azure:
 
@@ -67,53 +75,51 @@ To protect SQL Server databases in Azure, first create a backup policy:
 1. In Azure Backup Server, select the **Protection** workspace.
 1. Select **New** to create a protection group.
 
-    ![Create a protection group in Azure Backup Server](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/protection-group.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to start creating a protection group in Azure Backup Server.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/protection-group.png)
 1. On the start page, review the guidance about creating a protection group. Then select **Next**.
 1. For the protection group type, select **Servers**.
 
-    ![Select the Servers protection group type](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-servers.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to select the Servers protection group type.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-servers.png)
 1. Expand the SQL Server instance where the databases that you want to back up are located. You see the data sources that can be backed up from that server. Expand **All SQL Shares** and then select the databases that you want to back up. In this example, we select ReportServer$MSDPM2012 and ReportServer$MSDPM2012TempDB. Select **Next**.
 
-    ![Select a SQL Server database](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-databases.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to select a SQL Server database.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-databases.png)
 1. Name the protection group and then select **I want online protection**.
 
-    ![Choose a data-protection method - short-term disk protection or online Azure protection](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-name.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to choose a data-protection method - short-term disk protection or online Azure protection.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-name.png)
 1. On the **Specify Short-Term Goals** page, include the necessary inputs to create backup points to the disk.
 
     In this example, **Retention range** is set to *5 days*. The backup **Synchronization frequency** is set to once every *15 minutes*. **Express Full Backup** is set to *8:00 PM*.
 
-    ![Set up short-term goals for backup protection](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-shortterm.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to set up short-term goals for backup protection.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-shortterm.png)
 
    > [!NOTE]
    > In this example, a backup point is created at 8:00 PM every day. The data that has been modified since the previous day's 8:00 PM backup point is transferred. This process is called **Express Full Backup**. Although the transaction logs are synchronized every 15 minutes, if we need to recover the database at 9:00 PM, then the point is created by replaying the logs from the last express full backup point, which is 8:00 PM in this example.
-   >
-   >
 
 1. Select **Next**. MABS shows the overall storage space available. It also shows the potential disk space utilization.
 
-    ![Set up disk allocation in MABS](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-storage.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to set up disk allocation in MABS.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-storage.png)
 
     By default, MABS creates one volume per data source (SQL Server database). The volume is used for the initial backup copy. In this configuration, Logical Disk Manager (LDM) limits MABS protection to 300 data sources (SQL Server databases). To work around this limitation, select **Co-locate data in DPM Storage Pool**. If you use this option, MABS uses a single volume for multiple data sources. This setup allows MABS to protect up to 2,000 SQL Server databases.
 
     If you select **Automatically grow the volumes**, then MABS can account for the increased backup volume as the production data grows. If you don't select **Automatically grow the volumes**, then MABS limits the backup storage to the data sources in the protection group.
 1. If you're an administrator, you can choose to transfer this initial backup **Automatically over the network** and choose the time of transfer. Or choose to **Manually** transfer the backup. Then select **Next**.
 
-    ![Choose a replica-creation method in MABS](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-manual.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to choose a replica-creation method in MABS.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-manual.png)
 
     The initial backup copy requires the transfer of the entire data source (SQL Server database). The backup data moves from the production server (SQL Server computer) to MABS. If this backup is large, then transferring the data over the network could cause bandwidth congestion. For this reason, administrators can choose to use removable media to transfer the initial backup **Manually**. Or they can transfer the data **Automatically over the network** at a specified time.
 
     After the initial backup finishes, backups continue incrementally on the initial backup copy. Incremental backups tend to be small and are easily transferred across the network.
 1. Choose when to run a consistency check. Then select **Next**.
 
-    ![Choose when to run a consistency check](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-consistent.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to choose a schedule to run a consistency check.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-consistent.png)
 
     MABS can run a consistency check on the integrity of the backup point. It calculates the checksum of the backup file on the production server (the SQL Server computer in this example) and the backed-up data for that file in MABS. If the check finds a conflict, then the backed-up file in MABS is assumed to be corrupt. MABS fixes the backed-up data by sending the blocks that correspond to the checksum mismatch. Because the consistency check is a performance-intensive operation, administrators can choose to schedule the consistency check or run it automatically.
 1. Select the data sources to protect in Azure. Then select **Next**.
 
-    ![Select data sources to protect in Azure](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-sqldatabases.png)
+    ![Screenshot show how to select data sources to protect in Azure.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-sqldatabases.png)
 1. If you're an administrator, you can choose backup schedules and retention policies that suit your organization's policies.
 
-    ![Choose schedules and retention policies](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-schedule.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to choose schedules and retention policies.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-schedule.png)
 
     In this example, backups are taken daily at 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
 
@@ -125,7 +131,7 @@ To protect SQL Server databases in Azure, first create a backup policy:
 
 1. Choose the retention policy schedule. For more information about how the retention policy works, see [Use Azure Backup to replace your tape infrastructure](backup-azure-backup-cloud-as-tape.md).
 
-    ![Choose a retention policy in MABS](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-retentionschedule.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to choose a retention policy in MABS.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-retentionschedule.png)
 
     In this example:
 
@@ -143,49 +149,49 @@ To protect SQL Server databases in Azure, first create a backup policy:
     After you choose a transfer mechanism, select **Next**.
 1. On the **Summary** page, review the policy details. Then select **Create group**. You can select **Close** and watch the job progress in the **Monitoring** workspace.
 
-    ![The progress of the protection group creation](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-summary.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows the progress of the protection group creation.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/pg-summary.png)
 
 ## Create on-demand backup copies of a SQL Server database
 
 A recovery point is created when the first backup occurs. Rather than waiting for the schedule to run, you can manually trigger the creation of a recovery point:
 
 1. In the protection group, make sure the database status is **OK**.
 
-    ![A protection group, showing the database status](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recoverypoint.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows the database status in a protection group.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recoverypoint.png)
 1. Right-click the database and then select **Create recovery point**.
 
-    ![Choose to create an online recovery point](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-createrp.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to choose creating an online recovery point.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-createrp.png)
 1. In the drop-down menu, select **Online protection**. Then select **OK** to start the creation of a recovery point in Azure.
 
-    ![Start creating a recovery point in Azure](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-azure.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to start creating a recovery point in Azure.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-azure.png)
 1. You can view the job progress in the **Monitoring** workspace.
 
-    ![View job progress in the Monitoring console](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-monitoring.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to view job progress in the Monitoring console.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-monitoring.png)
 
 ## Recover a SQL Server database from Azure
 
 To recover a protected entity, such as a SQL Server database, from Azure:
 
 1. Open the DPM server management console. Go to the **Recovery** workspace to see the servers that DPM backs up. Select the database (in this example, ReportServer$MSDPM2012). Select a **Recovery time** that ends with **Online**.
 
-    ![Select a recovery point](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-restorepoint.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to select a recovery point.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-restorepoint.png)
 1. Right-click the database name and select **Recover**.
 
-    ![Recover a database from Azure](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recover.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to recover a database from Azure.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recover.png)
 1. DPM shows the details of the recovery point. Select **Next**. To overwrite the database, select the recovery type **Recover to original instance of SQL Server**. Then select **Next**.
 
-    ![Recover a database to its original location](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recoveroriginal.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to recover a database to its original location.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recoveroriginal.png)
 
     In this example, DPM allows the recovery of the database to another SQL Server instance or to a standalone network folder.
 1. On the **Specify Recovery Options** page, you can select the recovery options. For example, you can choose **Network bandwidth usage throttling** to throttle the bandwidth that recovery uses. Then select **Next**.
 1. On the **Summary** page, you see the current recovery configuration. Select **Recover**.
 
     The recovery status shows the database being recovered. You can select **Close** to close the wizard and view the progress in the **Monitoring** workspace.
 
-    ![Start the recovery process](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recoverying.png)
+    ![Screenshot shows how to start the recovery process.](./media/backup-azure-backup-sql/sqlbackup-recoverying.png)
 
     When the recovery is complete, the restored database is consistent with the application.
 
-### Next steps
+## Next steps
 
 For more information, see [Azure Backup FAQ](backup-azure-backup-faq.yml).