BACK UP SQL SERVER DATABASES TO AMAZON S3

STEP 1 – AMAZON S3 ACCOUNT CREATION AND SETUP

To create an Amazon S3 account, navigate to Amazon’s AWS home page and select Get Started with Amazon S3, and click on the Create a new AWS account button below the login field. Follow the instructions given by the AWS Console to get your account set up. 

STEP 2 – CONNECTING TO YOUR SQL SERVER

In SQL Backup Master’s main window, navigate to the Backup and Restore tab and select the New Backup button. In the Database Backup Editor window that is brought up, select the Choose SQL Server option. You will then see  the Connect to SQL Server window: 

From here, enter the name of the SQL Server instance that you are connecting to in the Server name field. Common examples of this include:

• (local)\SQLExpress – Specifies the default SQL Express named instance on the local computer.
• (local) – Specifies the local SQL Server installation (without an instance name).
• Server1\SQLExpress – Specifies the default SQL Express names instance on a remote computer named “Server1”.
• Server1 – Specifies an unnamed SQL Server instance on a remote computer named “Server1”.

Another option of finding local or remote SQL Server instances is to use the drop-down arrow of the Server name field.

Hit the Test SQL Connection button to test your connection to your server, then hit OK.

STEP 3 – SELECT DESIRED DATABASES TO BACK UP

Now that you’re connected to a SQL Server instance, the Database Backup Editor window will show up with the available databases in the Source column. Select the databases you want to back up as part of this job out of this list.

You can also use the Back up all non-system databases check box. Enabling this feature will back up all new databases created on the target SQL Server automatically. 

STEP 4 – CHOOSE S3 AS YOUR BACKUP DESTINATION

Under the Destinations header of the Database Backup Editor window, click the Add button to add a destination. This will make a new window appear, displaying all compatible backup destinations: 

 Select Amazon S3 by double-clicking the section box labeled Amazon S3.

The Amazon S3 Destination Settings window will then appear. This is where you will configure the credentials for your S3 account.

Pull up the Security Credentials page of your Amazon S3 account to find your Access key and Secret key. Copy (ctrl+c) and paste (ctrl+v) both your Access key and Secret key in the first and second text fields respectively, then input your preferred Bucket in the third. Your Bucket must already exist in your S3 storage account to be successfully used by SQL Backup Master.

After you have input your keys and bucket, and tailored your Amazon S3 Destination Settings to your preferred configuration, use the Test button to make sure everything is set up properly. Hit Ok after the test has completed successfully. Then select Ok on the Amazon S3 Destination Settings window to continue. 

Back at the bottom right corner of the Database Backup Editor window, click the Save icon to finalize and establish your backup destination. 

STEP 5 – RUN THE BACKUP

Back in the main window of the application, select your newly created backup and hit the Back up now button to begin backing up your SQL Server to Amazon S3.

If the backup job does not complete successfully, please review the log file for further details.