I'm a complete MS SQL Server newbie. I know how to spell it and that's about it.
Essentially, I need to create a copy of an existing database for archive purposes. I need all the data and structures in the copy (the copy should be identical, in every way, to the original). The copy will have a name with some date format (i.e. name_YYYYMMDD) to allow for archival. This only needs to happen when the user requests it (which will probably only be a few times a year).
Once the copy is made, I need a way to easily compare and validate that both databases are identical.
Once that is done, I need to delete all the records in a single table of the original db. After that, I need to reset the auto numbering for the new records for the table.
At the moment, we are creating a backup, restoring the backup with a different name, and spot checking a few records in both databases. Is there an easier way to automate this, or should I just write up a procedure for the end user to do it manually?
Essentially, I need to create a copy of an existing database for archive purposes. I need all the data and structures in the copy (the copy should be identical, in every way, to the original). The copy will have a name with some date format (i.e. name_YYYYMMDD) to allow for archival. This only needs to happen when the user requests it (which will probably only be a few times a year).
Once the copy is made, I need a way to easily compare and validate that both databases are identical.
Once that is done, I need to delete all the records in a single table of the original db. After that, I need to reset the auto numbering for the new records for the table.
At the moment, we are creating a backup, restoring the backup with a different name, and spot checking a few records in both databases. Is there an easier way to automate this, or should I just write up a procedure for the end user to do it manually?
