Password Protection

Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 supports password protection for backup media and backup sets. Passwords are not required to perform backup operations, but they provide an added level of security. You can use them in addition to using SQL Server security roles. The use of password protection helps guard against:

• Unauthorized restoration of databases.
  
  
• Unauthorized appends to the media.
  
  
• Unintentional overwriting of the media.

Important  Password security does not prevent overwriting the media by formatting it or using it for a continuation volume. Additionally, specifying a password does not encrypt the data in any way.

Passwords can be used for either media sets or backup sets:

• Media set passwords protect all the data saved to that media. The media set password is set when the media header is written; it cannot be altered. If a password is defined for the media set, the password must be supplied to perform any append or restore operation.

  You will only be able to use the media for SQL Server backup and restore operations. Specifying a media set password prevents a Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 or Windows® 2000 backup from being able to share the media.

• Backup set passwords protect only a particular backup set. Different backup set passwords can be used for each backup set on the media. A backup set password is set when the backup set is written to the media. If a password is defined for the backup set, the password must be supplied to perform any restore of that backup set.