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Kroll Ontrack PowerControls forSQL allows users to quicklyrestore individual tables or rowsfrom a database backup. It is notnecessary to take the databaseserver offline or restore the entiredatabase as is normally requiredfor SQL restores. The tool’sinterface has been kept extrasimple, which makes it easy touse, both for databaseadministrators and for otherusers.

As well as the restore function,PowerControls for SQL alsoprovides an overview of tablecontents. The product alsosupports native SQL backups inaddition to snapshots.

Data loss can occur anywhereData loss is a common problemfor all databases, regardless of acompany’s size. Employeessometimes delete entries thatthey don’t realise are actuallyrelevant in another context orthey overwrite important datawith incorrect information.

But it also often happens thatdevelopers and administratorsaccidently destroy databases orrelevant information during their

work. In cases like these, it isvital to be able to restore thedatabase from a backup.

Although creating an SQLbackup has become increasinglyeasy in the past few years, oftenrunning automatically in thebackground, restoring data

remains a particular challenge.The responsible employeesnormally have to restore theentire contents of the affecteddatabase even if they actuallyonly need to restore one singleentry. This is often time­consuming, especially for largeenvironments, and the database

Testing PowerControls for SQL 8.0 from Kroll Ontrack

SQL­Restore in operationDr. Götz Güttich

SQL servers have established themselves as the standard for databases in recentyears. This is the case not only for large and medium­sized businesses but also

for small environments that until recently were still managing their customerdata with solutions such as Microsoft Access. The everyday use of SQL doesoffer many advantages but it also complicates processes such as backing up

and restoring data. Kroll Ontrack is tackling this problem with its PowerControlsfor SQL, a tool that makes it possible to restore database tables from a backup

while in operation.

server can often not be used forother tasks during this period.Furthermore, the restore processis so complicated that it can onlybe carried out by IT specialists,particularly when it runs via anenterprise backup program.

Simple restore optionsPowerControls for SQL, on theother hand, accesses existingbackup files and makes itpossible to directly restore thiscontent on a running SQL serverwith an active database. As wellas backup files, the product alsosupports MDF files with LDF logfiles and NDF files. Access rightsto this data are sufficient for theoperation of PowerControls forSQL. Nevertheless, encryptedand compressed backup datacannot currently be used anymore than differential backups,files and file groups, multiple filebackups, and transaction logs.

In terms of the server, thesoftware is compatible with theMicrosoft SQL servers 2008 R2and 2012 in both native andmixed mode. It also supportsWindows and SQLauthentication. PowerControlsfor SQL requires administrativerights to access the server andneither the databases nor thesource files can be encrypted orcompressed. Furthermore, thesolution can only restore tables,rows and columns and is unableto restore SQL database objectssuch as system tables,procedures, keys or similarobjects. Indexes, permissions andsimilar elements cannot berestored either.

The testWe set up a Microsoft SQLserver 2012 in our test laboratory,which we used to run Kroll

Ontrack PowerControls for SQL.When configuring the server, weleft as many settings as possibleon the standard values. We did,however, set the system toregularly create entire backups ofall existing databases on theserver.

Windows Server 2012 R2 wasused as the server operatingsystem and the system ran on anIntel quad­core Xeon processorwith 1.6 GHz frequency, 4 GBRAM and 280 GB hard disk

space. As for the databases, weinstalled the two Microsoftexample databases ‘AdventureWorks 2012’ and ‘AdventureWorks TS 2012’ on the system,as well as our own customerdatabase. SQL ServerManagement Studio 2012 wasused to manage the SQL serverwhile in operation.

After we finished setting up theserver and the databases, we thenbegan working on the data anddeleted various elements from

the system as part of the test. Wesubsequently installedPowerControls for SQL and usedthis solution to access the backupfiles, restoring the data that wehad previously deleted. Finally,we directly accessed the affecteddatabases to check whether therestore process had beensuccessful.

InstallationWe will now describe theinstallation of PowerControls forSQL. Kroll Ontrack provided us

with a license file and a link fordownloading the setup file for thetest. After downloading bothfiles, we opened the setup file.This launched the installationroutine and checked the systemto ensure that all dependencieswere in place.

Our computer was missing twoC++ Redistributable Packages atthe time. The setup routineautomatically loaded themwithout us needing to doanything. This was definitely an

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All existing dependencies are taken care of by the PowerControls for SQL

setup routine

advantage because not everyinstallation program does thissort of task for the administrator.

The setup wizard then presentedus with a welcome screen,displayed the licence conditionsand requested the installation

path. We entered this andinstallation began straight away.All that we had to do in the endwas manually copy the licencefile into the program directoryand then we could get to work.We can conclude that installingthis software should not createany great difficulties to themajority of users.

Data restoreBefore we were able to test therestore functions ofPowerControls for SQL, we firstneeded to delete various dataitems from the test database onour SQL server, as mentionedabove. Backup data was alreadyavailable to us at this point.

We then launched PowerControlsfor SQL. The software greeted uswith a wizard that helped usselect the source files and

establish a connection with theSQL server that was to be used asthe target of the restore process.All the actions completed by thewizard can also be done via theprogram interface during regularoperation. Experienced usersmay actually consider the wizard

to be a hindrance, which is why itis always possible to deactivateit. However, the wizard is auseful starting point for newusers who want to get an idea ofthe performance capacity of theKroll Ontrack tool.

As mentioned above, theassistant begins by requesting thesource file that is to be used andthen immediately displays thefile types that it supports. Theresponsible employee then entersthe address of the affected SQLservers and the accompanyingcredentials. They also indicate ifthey would like to connect withthe entire server or just with onedatabase. The wizard then closesand the users are directed to thetool window.

This is where the softwaredisplays all of the existing source

and target data. The source areais found in the upper half of thewindow. It consists of both a treeview, displaying all restorablecontent from the source file in atree structure, and a list view,displaying the data (for example,a table) located in the selectedelement of the tree structure. Inthis way, the list view can beused to preview the existinginformation before restoring thedata. The preview comprises thefirst 1,024 columns and the first100 rows of the table, in whicheach column can contain up to300 characters. The softwarenotifies you if the table is largerthan this. The overview does alsodisplay content that is notsupported by PowerControls forSQL but this is labelled as<UNSUPPORTED>.PowerControls for SQL alsoallows users to quickly searchthrough various backups andrestore the correct version of thedata without any delays or time­consuming tests.

The target area works in the sameway as the source area. A treeview on the left­hand sidedisplays the existing databases onthe server and their content. Theadjacent list view allowsadministrators to view the datawithin the selected elements. Ifadministrators were to addanother database to the serverafter establishing the connection,they would need to update theserver view withinPowerControls so that this serverwill also be displayed in the datarestore tool.

If a user wishes to restore anentry from the backup file, theentry can either be moved fromthe source area to the correctsection in the target area using

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Users can use the drag­and­drop function in the tool’s work area to move the

data that needs to be restored into the target area

the drag­and­drop function or itcan be copied from the topsection to be added to the bottomsection. Users can perform theseactions using the icons availablein the taskbar, which can also beused for opening source files andtarget servers. This means thatthey have access to the maincommands at all times. We canconfirm that during testing therewere no problems restoring the

data that we had previouslydeleted and the content wasimmediately available in thenetwork again after using thedrag­and­drop method, which wewere able to verify by using SQLServer Management Studio.Working with the software isvery quick and easy. The useralways remains informed aboutall restore processes. Alongsidethe source and target, the Kroll

Ontrack software also displaysthe time at which the backupprocess was started, the numberof tables and rows to be edited,the time at which the backupprocess was completed as well asany warnings and error reports.This data can be printed andsaved at any time.

As well as the drag­and­dropfunction and the taskbar, the tool

also features a menu bar thatoffers another way of openingsource and target systems andrestoring data. The menu bar alsocontains various setting options(for example, the activation ofwarning messages when LDFfiles are missing or when copyingtables with unknown keys) and ahelp section. As a result of this,PowerControls for SQL is easy touse and does not add any

unnecessary extra work foranyone.

SummaryPowerControls for SQL fromKroll Ontrack is a highly usefultool for any environment thatuses a Microsoft SQL server.This is true whether the user isfrom a small establishment andwishes to restore data or is anadministrator at a largeorganisation and needs to managenumerous SQL servers anddatabases. However, users needto already have basic knowledgeof data construction so that theyare able to find the data that theywould like to restore when usingthe preview. Otherwise, no usershould have any problems usingthe tool as it has been designedso that it is easy to operate.Restoring SQL files is no longersuch a chore. No problemsoccurred when testing the datarestore and it was even possibleto copy tables from backups intonew or external databases. Thismeans that the software is notonly suitable for restores but alsofor the creation of databaseexcerpts and similar tasks.Installing the solution is a quickprocess. The entire product runswhen the database server is inonline mode and only datarelevant to the individual restoreprocess is copied. The tooltherefore saves a lot of time andsystem resources and users cancontinue working while the datarestore is in progress. EveryMicrosoft SQL serveradministrator should have thisproduct in their toolkit. Themanufacturer is also planning toinclude support for compressedbackup files and Microsoft SQLservers 2008 and 2014 during thenext software release, which isdue at the end of April.

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PowerControls for SQL displays a summary once the restore process is

complete