Types of SnapManager Restore operations

There are two types of SnapManager Restore operations. In a point-in-time restore operation, the transaction logs in the active file system not committed to the databases at the time of backup operation are replayed. In an up-to-the-minute restore operation, all uncommitted transaction logs are replayed and are applied to the databases. This option is selected by default.

Point-in-time restore operation: In this case, only the uncommitted transaction logs that existed in the active file system at the time the backup copy was created are replayed. All the transaction logs beyond the point-in-time (after the backup copy was created) that exist in the transaction log directory and that belong to the restored Storage Group are removed.
You can use this method to restore a database or Storage Group back to a time before a corruption occurred.
Up-to-the-minute restore operation: There are some transaction logs that are not committed to the databases. In an up-to-the-minute restore operation, all uncommitted transaction logs, from the time the backup set was created up to the most current time, are played forward and applied to the databases. This includes transaction logs from the backup sets, in addition to the transaction logs in the transaction log directory. A contiguous set of transaction logs is required for an up-to-the-minute restore operation to succeed.

Example: Up-to-the-minute restore operation

Suppose you run SnapManager Backup every day at noon, and on Wednesday at 4 p.m. you decide to restore from a previous backup set. For some reason, the backup set from Wednesday noon failed verification, so you decide to restore from the Tuesday noon backup set. After that backup set is restored, all the transaction logs are played forward and applied to the restored databases. This starts with those that were not committed when you created Tuesday’s backup set and continues through the latest transaction log written on Wednesday at 4 p.m.