3 - Potential (Review Recommended)

Split backup chain

Issue: One or more databases appear to have a split backup chain, meaning backup files are being written to multiple locations.

Problem: A split backup chain complicates the restoring process, since you will have to figure out where the most recent backup files were written. Additionally, a split backup chain could be due to unknown scheduled backups or ad hoc backups that were written without using the COPY_ONLY option, which would not affect the backup chain.

Recovery Point Objective issues

Issue: One or more SQL Server databases have not been backed up in the last week, or one or more databases in Full or Bulk Logged recovery model have not had a transaction log backup in the last hour.

Problem: Your recovery point objective (RPO) defines how much data you can afford to lose in case of a catastrophic event, so your should schedule regular backups to meet your RPO. Many organizations will have an RPO stricter than what we are checking, so this check may indicate that you have missed configuring a database to meet your RPO.

Databases are missing backups

Issue: There are one or more databases that have not had a full backup completed, or there are one or more databases using the Full or Bulk Logged recovery model that have not had a log file backup completed.

Problem: By default, SQL Server does not perform any backups of your databases. If a database is missing a full backup then it is likely unrecoverable.

Also, if your database is using the Full or Bulk Logged recovery model, you will need to perform log file backups at regular intervals. Failing to do so will result in the log file growing until there is no more available drive space.

Failed backups

Issue: The SQL Server error log contains information about one or more recent failed backups.

Problem: If your SQL Server backups are failing, you probably don't have recoverable backup files if needed. Additionally, failed backup attempts could indicate an unauthorized attempt to make a backup, which could be a security concern.

Backup compression disabled

Issue: The configuration "backup compression" is disabled, which is the default.

Problem: Compressed backup files are typically smaller than uncompressed backups of the same data, requiring less device I/O and therefore increasing backup speed significantly.

Backup checksum disabled