DBLense Parallel Backup — User Guide

Multi-threaded database export and restore with snapshot consistency, compression, and real-time progress tracking. Export multiple databases simultaneously from a single portable .exe.

Getting Started

Double-click DBLenseParallelBackup.exe — no installation required.

1. Connect to your SQL Server instance
2. Select databases to export
3. Choose output folder and options
4. Click Start Export

All four authentication modes are supported: Windows, SQL Server, Azure Entra ID (Password), and Azure Entra ID (MFA).

Export / Backup

DBLense Parallel Backup exports database data using BCP (Bulk Copy Program) internally, but with a multi-threaded parallel engine for massive performance gains.

Configuration Options

Database Selection

After connecting, all databases are listed with checkboxes. Use filters to show:

• User databases only (default)
• System databases (master, model, msdb)
• All databases

Select individual databases or use Select All to export everything.

Snapshot Consistency

When the Database Snapshot option is enabled, DBLense creates a temporary database snapshot before exporting. This ensures:

• Point-in-time consistency — All tables are exported from the same moment
• No locks on production — The snapshot is a read-only copy; production continues normally
• Automatic cleanup — The snapshot is dropped after export completes

Database snapshots require SQL Server Enterprise Edition or Developer Edition on-premises. Azure SQL databases support snapshots natively.

Compression

Enable GZip compression to reduce output file sizes by 60-80%. This is especially useful for:

• Large databases where storage space is limited
• Exports that will be transferred over the network
• Archival copies

Compressed files have a .gz extension and can be restored by DBLense or any standard GZip tool.

Parallel Restore

Switch to the Restore tab to import previously exported data:

1. Connect to the target server
2. Browse to the export folder
3. DBLense auto-detects databases and tables from the folder structure
4. Select what to restore
5. Click Start Restore

Restore also runs in parallel using multiple threads for maximum throughput.

Restore Options

• Truncate before restore — Clear existing data before importing
• Drop & recreate tables — Re-create table structure from schema files
• Identity insert — Preserve original identity values
• Disable constraints — Temporarily disable foreign keys during restore

Progress Tracking

During export or restore, a live progress dashboard shows:

• Per-table progress bars — Current row count vs. total rows
• Overall progress — Percentage across all selected databases
• Active threads — Which tables are currently being processed
• Speed — Rows per second throughput
• Elapsed time and ETA
• Status indicators — ✓ Complete, ▶ In Progress, ✗ Failed

Azure SQL Managed Instance

DBLense Parallel Backup fully supports Azure SQL Managed Instance with the following considerations:

• Database snapshots use MI-compatible syntax
• Authentication via Azure Entra ID (Password or MFA)
• Output files are saved locally on the machine running DBLense
• Performance depends on network latency to your MI instance

Typical Workflows

Nightly Export for Archival

1. Select all user databases
2. Enable snapshot consistency and compression
3. Set Max Threads to 4 (balance speed vs. server load)
4. Export to a network share or archive location

Migrate Data Between Environments

1. Export from Production with snapshot consistency
2. Transfer files to the target environment
3. Restore to Dev/Staging with "Truncate before restore" option

Quick Table-Level Backup

1. Expand a database and select specific tables only
2. Export just those tables for a targeted backup before schema changes

System Requirements