The SQL Server Agent provides complete protection of all the SQL databases that run on Windows or Linux in your enterprise. You can use the agent to perform full system rebuilds by backing up the databases and the transaction logs or to perform granular recovery by backing up the files or filegroups.
In the case of a system failure, such as the breakdown of hardware, software, or operating system, the SQL Server Agent provides point-in-time recovery of the databases. This type of recovery ensures that the state of the SQL Server database is as it existed at the time of backup, and it is ready for use whenever necessary.
If a MediaAgent that is used for a backup or a recovery job fails, the job is automatically resumed on an alternate MediaAgent. Similarly, if a network goes down, the backup and recovery jobs are resumed on alternate data paths.
Hot Standby Server
You can set up a hot standby server and update the standby server periodically with the latest backup copy of the database. If the database on the production server fails, you can minimize the downtime by bringing the hot standby server online and using it as a replacement for the production server.
For more information on Hot Standby Server, see Restore to a Hot Standby SQL Server.
Always on Availability Groups
Create an Always On Availability Group (AG) client and add Availability Group databases to the AG client to protect databases on SQL Server 2012 and later in the event of a database failure. The AG client protects a set of user databases (also known as availability databases) that fail over together, and provides a single entry point to perform backups and restores.
For more information on Always On Availability Groups, see Always On MSSQL Availability Groups.
IntelliSnap
With IntelliSnap, you can create a point-in-time snapshot by quiescing the data temporarily, taking a snapshot, and then resuming live operations. IntelliSnap backups work in conjunction with hardware snapshot engines.