Back up file?

Hello everyone,
I have a PC and I am using it as a "mini" server for Temp testing purpose. This PC is on the network. I am wondering if there is a DB file with specific name and extension I can save on our network drive or folder which is backed up automatically overnight daily.
Any suggestion/comments are highly appreciated!not sure I got your question .. did you want to ask if you could back up your database to a network server|||That's correct. I have this "mini server" as a testing machine which is not "supported" by IT group since it is not part of data center. I do want my "mini server" backed up. I know all the files on the network drive get backed up overnight so that I am wondering if there is a file or set of files I could push onto our network drive so that my database can be backed up.

Thank you for the help.|||moving the 'YourDB.mdf' and 'YourDB_Log.ldf' files to the network drive will help you to back it up

;)|||moving the 'YourDB.mdf' and 'YourDB_Log.ldf' files to the network drive will help you to back it up

;)

Do you think your Database will work after that ?

What you need to do is schedule a backup of your database using the "Backup database" command and move it over to the file share.|||Do you think your Database will work after that ?Definitely not, but at least it could be recovered if you had enough expertise.

On a more serious note, you really need to use the BACKUP DATABASE (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/tsqlref/ts_ba-bz_35ww.asp) command to produce a dump file. That file can be copied wherever you like, backed up, whatever... It can be restored using RESTORE DATABASE (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/tsqlref/ts_ra-rz_25rm.asp) command, and things will be exactly as they were when you issued the first BACKUP DATABASE command.

-PatP|||Thank you for all replies. Just want to be clear, I need to use database backup command to backup my current DB. Can I assume everything (tables, stored procedures, DTS package and etc) I have created in the DB will be saved and backed up on the network. Is my assumption right?
Many thanks.|||All of the transactions that are committed by the end of the backup operation will be included in the backup file. One file will be produced, regardless of how many files make up your database (you could have an MDF, a few NDF, and a couple of LDF files and still get just one dump file). The dump file created by the backup can then be zipped, copied, etc as you see fit, and that dump can be used to restore the database later.

-PatP|||... (tables, stored procedures, DTS package and etc) I have created in the DB will be saved and backed up on the network. Is my assumption right?
Many thanks.
DTS packages are not stored in user databases. If they are stored on the SQL Server, they are in the MSDB database. Soooooo ... if you want to save everything, you will need to backup **all** your databases then move them off server for storage.|||would you please more explicit about DTS packages are not stored in user databases. if you want to save everything, you will need to backup **all** your databases then move them off server for storage.
How and what I should do in order to backup **all**? Is there a function or command I should do? Please advise.|||Open Books OnLine. Search the index for the "backup" command. Make sure you run a backup for each and every database on your server. Take all the backup files created during this process and copy them to a safe place off your server.

If you are so inclined, you can create a database mainenance plan to backup all databases on the server in one job than can be run by the SQLServer Agent, if it is active. Look up "Database Maintenance Plan Wizard" in Books OnLine.|||I tried to save DTS packages. I have backed up msdb database on my local PC (which is SQL server as well) c:program files\MS SQL server\backup\msdb_backup (I just wanted to test to see if it works the way I expected since this is my first time try so that only saved on the server directory.)
I went back to Enterprise Mgr and select "Restore database...", and select the file [msdb_backup] which was created through backup command. I got the error message attached. Not sure why. Would you please give me a hint?

Thank you in advance for helping me out!|||here is the error msg.|||Have you got Query Analyzer open at the time that you try to back up the database?
If so, this spawns a process that connects to your database. When you backup a database, SQL Server tries to obtain an exclusive database lock (to ensure that data cannot be changed while the backup is in progress) and it cannot do this if there is another process connected to the database.

Check out 'How to view current server activity' in Books Online.

Once you've made sure that there are no other processes connected to your database, you can put the database in 'single user' mode by right-clicking on the database name, selecting Properties and checking the 'Restrict access' box on the Options tab.
Then backup your database.