Every now and then I see requests come to our team that say “hey, buddy, when was the last time that database was restored?” My first thought has been, historically, “how the hell am I supposed to know that?” After all, the management tools given to us (EM, SSMS) never list a “last restore date” like they do for backups. And then I think to myself “Hey, shouldn’t you know when was the last time you asked for a restore?” After all, it isn’t as if we have some master list that we use to keep track of restore requests. And even if we did, that would seem to be a rather inefficient way of keeping track. Then it dawns on me that they wouldn’t necessarily know anyway, because a lot of systems are shared and they may or may not have been notified. So, the question is quite valid, but where is the info?
Right around the last time a request like this came before my eyes I noticed a posting in one of the groups I belong to on LinkedIn. It was from a man named Greg Robidoux and he was asking for people to step forward and submit ideas for MSSQLTips.com. I then recalled that Tim Ford was currently writing for that website, so I contacted Tim to ask a few questions and I figured I would dive into the msdb and piece together a script that someone may find useful.
I have scratched my way through the msdb for backup information, as have a host of others. I have built dynamic scripts that pulled pieces of the msdb together in order to automate restores, as have others. But until recently I never went looking in the msdb for restore information. I guess I never had a reason to do so until I found a way to not only help the community but to feed my bacon compulsion. Now that I think of it, Greg is either just as crazy as I am, or very desperate for material, or he was completely impressed with my current MVP status and Microsoft Points. If you so desire to be paid in bacon and have your name next to mine, then contact Greg here. Tell him I sent you. You’re both welcome.
If you want the script and the screenshots for my first tip, go here. And while you are there, check out the other great tips by the other great authors. And then do what I like to do, rank your top ten authors and keep track of what they do on a weekly basis in the intertubz. Then on Mondays update your rankings. It’s an easy way to keep the feeling of the NCAA basketball season going all year long.
