Creating Backup Devices with SQL Enterprise Manager

For those who prefer to work with the GUI, Enterprise Manager can also be used to create backup devices. Expand the Management node in Enterprise Manager, right-click Backup, and select New Backup Device from the pop-up menu. This invokes the Backup Device Properties “ New Device dialog box, which is shown in Figure 16.1.

Figure 16.1. The new device properties box.

This dialog box allows you to specify a logical name and physical location for the device. Unless you have a valid tape device attached to the server, the tape device name option will be unavailable.

This dialog box is also available from the SQL Server Backup dialog box. Select Backup Database from the tools menu, or right-click a database and select All Tasks, Backup Database. This brings up the SQL Server Backup dialog box. Under destination, click Add, select Backup Device, and choose New Backup Device from the drop-down box.