Dumping to a Tape Device

To dump to a tape, the tape dump device must be located on the computer where SQL Server is running. Information about a tape dump is recorded on the tape label. This information includes up to 17 characters of the database name, the time and date of the dump, and the type of dump (database, table, or log).

To add multiple dumps to a single tape, specify NOUNLOAD and INIT when issuing the first dump. Specify UNLOAD while issuing the last dump so that the tape will be unloaded when the dump ends. To add a single dump to the end of an existing multifile tape, specify NOINIT and UNLOAD.

If you are writing over a tape, be sure that you use the INIT option when you dump the first file to that tape. This allows the data on the tape to be overwritten, rather than adding the dump to the end of the tape.

If the tape contains data in a foreign format (not SQL Server backup files), you must specify INIT; otherwise, the tape will be rejected. The tape can be used for a SQL Server backup by issuing a DUMP WITH INIT statement, which treats the tape as blank.