SharePoint Recovery to Restore Unattached Content Database

Content database is one of the most significant components of Microsoft SharePoint Server. It stores a large amount of data that is very important and accessed by various users simultaneously. In order to safeguard the content database and avoid data loss, Microsoft SharePoint has granular content database restore abilities. This SharePoint recovery feature is available in Central Administration. 

The feature of granular content database recovery is available only in the SharePoint 2010. It is an enhancement over the earlier versions. You can restore a damaged or corrupted content database on SharePoint Server using this feature through the following steps:

• Locate the backup of the content database that you need to recover. You must know the original location of the document so that you can match it in content database.
• Once you locate the backup, you have to restore the content database to any temporary storage location. In this mechanism, you have to have the database mounted on MS SQL Server.
• Click “Recover data from an unattached content database” link in Backup and Restore window in the SharePoint Central Administrator.
• Provide the information about temporary database and SQL instance. You also need to specify that what you are willing to do.
• Select list, site, and site collection to export.
• After exporting the data, you have to start MS SharePoint Management Shell. Import the library to the database using Import- SPWeb cmdlet option.
• Once the import process completes, you can browse the library and extract the documents you need. After extracting the required documents, you can remove the library and temporary database.

Although the above SharePoint repair process works in most of the cases of content database corruption, but it needs a complete backup. If backup is not available, this solution can not help you. 

In such critical situations, third-party recovery applications come for your rescue. Such tools are designed to repair and restore damaged database with all its objects. They do not demand advanced technical skills to retrieve inaccessible data.

SharePoint Database Recovery When Stsadm.exe Does Not Restore Database

The stsdm.exe is a very powerful and useful command-line utility of Microsoft SharePoint Server. It lets you perform a wide range of operations on your SharePoint Server database, which includes backup and restore database. You can use stsadm.exe -o backup to backup and stsadm.exe –o restore to restore the database, in case of database corruption and can avoid needs of SharePoint Recovery solutions.

Stsadm.exe backup utility helps you handle corruption in a number of situations, but it does not backup user profile information. This issue usually occurs on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2003 and 2007. You may run across this issue if the following conditions are true:

• You create backup of personal site using Stsadm.exe utility and then try to restore it.
• You create a new SSP (Shared Services Provider), which has a number of new SSP databases.

This issue can prove very harmful in case of database corruption. When database gets damaged, you can not restore the user profiles using the backup. At this point of time, you have to opt for SharePoint repair solutions.

Cause:

This is a design issue in Microsoft SharePoint Server. SharePoint 2007 stores user profile information in SSP database. Whereas, SharePoint 2003 stores the information in _PROF database that is used by portal application.

Resolution:

In order to create a complete backup of profile information, you must following the below actions:

• You must do complete backup of the SSP database and then restore it, in case of SharePoint 2007. In case you have concern of database damage in SSP database, and there is a backup that was taken before the point of corruption, you can restore complete SSP backup to get absolute information.
• You must create complete backup of the _PROF database, which is used by portal applications, in SharePoint 2003. The process may need that you also restore all the portal applications.

The above solutions are helpful if you take these things in consideration before creating the backup. If you have created backup earlier and facing database corruption now, then you have to fix it using SharePoint database repair solutions. It is best possible using advanced and effective commercial recovery applications.