# Log Shipping in SQL Server ## Overview - Log shipping allows automatic sending of transaction log backups from a primary database to one or more secondary databases on separate server instances. - It provides a disaster recovery solution and supports limited read-only access to secondary databases. ## Key Components - **Primary Server**: The production server hosting the primary database. - **Secondary Server**: Hosts the warm standby copy of the primary database. - **Monitor Server**: Optionally tracks the history and status of backup and restore operations. ## Jobs Involved - **Backup Job**: Backs up the transaction log on the primary server. - **Copy Job**: Copies the backup files to the secondary server. - **Restore Job**: Restores the log backups on the secondary server. - **Alert Job**: Raises alerts if backup or restore operations fail. ## Benefits - Provides disaster recovery for a single primary database. - Allows a delay between backup and restore, useful for retrieving unchanged data if accidental changes occur. ## Limitations - Does not automatically fail over from the primary to the secondary server. - Known issues with memory-optimized tables during transactional log backups and restores.