How do I backup the data in SQL Server 2008 on a third party host?

Question

Hi,

I have a SQL Server 2008 database that is hosted by a third party host (heart internet). How would I go about backing this up?

I used SQL Server Management Studio Express 2008 to create the tables within the database, but the backup options within this app seem to be only of use if you have direct access to the server machine (which I don't)

It's also worth noting that I am using change tracking - I presume this data would be lost should any backup be restored?

Thanks In Advance!

(PS - SQL Server 2008 novice here!)

Answer 1

You can create a .DAT file into a shared disk and to download it through FTP.

Answer 2

If they allow you to run backups to a particular folder that you have access to you can just do it with the regular backup command:

backup database dbname to disk = 'y:\users\YourHomePath'

If they do not do that you might want to use the Database Publishing Wizard to script out your database (depending on the size this might be very slow)