Copy-Only Backups
Copy-only backups allow a backup of any type to be taken without affecting any other backups. Normally, a database backup is recorded in the database itself and is identified as part of a chain that can be used for restore. For example, if a full database backup is taken, any subsequent differential database backups use this full database backup as their base. A restore process utilizing the differential database backups would have a reference to the full database backup, and that backup would have to be available.
Copy-only backups do not affect the restore chain. They are useful in situations in which you simply want to get a copy of the database for testing purposes or things of this nature. Microsoft has made it easier to ...
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