Does the DBCC CHECKDB Repair Options Ensure Complete Recovery?
“There have been some problems with the SQL database that my company owns. It seems that the database is suffering from some corruption issues. I have heard that running DBCC CHECKDB command can solve SQL database corruptions. But before performing, I want to confirm that does the DBCC CHECKDB repair options ensure complete recovery? Looking for some expert suggestions regarding this matter.”
DBCC CHECKDB is a command that is executed to repair damaged SQL Server database of different levels. Among SQL users, there is a conception that this command can completely repair SQL database corruption. Many people tend to use this command to repair some major corruptions of SQL database. In this post, we will search for the answer to the question “does the DBCC CHECKDB Repair Options Ensure Complete Recovery?”
What Is The DBCC CHECKDB?
Ans: DBCC CHECKDB is a command that is used to check consistency of SQL Server database. It checks the logical and physical integrity of SQL Server database.
DBCC CHECKDB– What Does It Exactly Do?
Ans: Contrary to the common conception, this command does not save your SQL data. It makes sure that database can run smoothly without bumping into corruptions. It checks for both physical level (data files) and logical level (log files) corruption. Using three different options, it can fix damaged SQL database only to a certain level.
Different DBCC CHECKDB Repair Options For Database Recovery
When we run this command DBCC CHECKDB, it can perform three repairing options. Once the command is run, it automatically informs users which option is required to be implemented. Here are the options with their meaning and functionality.
- REPAIR_FAST: This option does not perform any type of repairing. The only function of REPAIR_FAST command option is to maintain backward compatibility of the database.
- REPAIR_REBUILD: It is used to perform minor corruptions in SQL database. Issues that need quick repairing, like missing rows in non-clustered indexes and rebuilding indexes, are usually done by this command option. Errors that involve FILESTREAM data are not repaired by this command. There is no chance of data loss during the execution of this option.
- REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS: This option should be used by SQL users as the last resort. Usually, we can restore a good backup of highly damaged SQL database to fix the issues. When there is no backup available, only then we should use this option. The name of this command itself is self-explanatory. Users must remember that this option contains high chances of data loss while fixing database corruption. It deletes all corrupt data and performs whatever data recovery that is possible.
Note: REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS should never be considered as an alternative to good data backup restore.
Final Thoughts
This post attempted to answer does the DBCC CHECKDB repair options ensure complete recovery. From the above discussion, it is understandable that repair options of DBCC CHECKDB cannot guarantee complete recovery of corrupt SQL Server database. Moreover, the chances of data loss are quite high when this command is used to fix major corruptions. Considering all these circumstances, it is always advised to keep the last known good backup of your SQL database. Otherwise, users can try using MS SQL Server Recovery Tool to get complete and smooth recovery of SQL database. They do not have to worry about data loss if they use this program to repair corrupt SQL database. Both MDF (primary) and NDF (secondary) files can be repaired by using this application. Therefore, it can be considered as an expert tool to fully repair SQL Server database and retrieve deleted data.
Frequently Asked Questions
The DBCC CHECKDB command plays a critical role in database corruption issues and therefore cannot be avoided due to its performance impact. However, you can choose measures to reduce the impact on SQL Server performance.
Yes, you can use the SQL repair tool which is the best alternative of DBCC command. It supports to recover SQL database without backup.
