Recovery models

Backup under the simple recovery model — The database can be restored only to the end of the most recent backup. All data between the start of the last backup and when the system goes down is lost.

The transaction log is automatically truncated to remove any inactive virtual log files. Truncation usually occurs after each checkpoint (completed transactions).

Backup under the full recovery model — The database can be restored to the end of the most recent transaction log backups. Also known as point-in-time recovery.

The potential data loss exposure is narrowed to the time between when the database is damaged and the most recent regular log backup (typically 10 minutes to 1 hour).

Backup under the bulk-logged recovery model — For a database that regularly uses the full recovery model, you can optimize certain bulk operations by temporarily using the bulk-logged recovery model. The bulk-logged recovery model incurs several restrictions that make it not suitable for day-to-day operations.