Is It Safe to Run DBCC CHECKDB?

When we look for database recovery methods, our major concern is whether the method is reliable, right? Here, we are to discuss a similar concern: is it safe to run DBCC CHECKDB? To answer that, we should first understand what the command actually is and how it can help repair the database after corruption.

Let's begin with understanding the reasons for database corruption, and how the method is a good choice for database recovery.

How SQL Database Gets Corrupted?

There can be various reasons for the corruption of SQL Server databases. Here, we will be discussing a few of these reasons to understand the causes better and work around them accordingly.

• One of the reasons for database corruption is hardware failure. When there is any system or hardware crash, it may become a possible reason for the corruption of the database. Disk failures, disk failures, or RAM issues can affect the database files resulting further in damaging or corrupting them.
• Another possible cause for database corruption can be a power interruption. If during the ongoing write operation, there is a sudden power outage or abrupt shutdown of the server, it can also lead to database corruption.
• If there are bugs present in the SQL Server they can also lead to causing issues with the database, further leading to SQL Database corruption.

How Corrupted SQL Database Can Be Recovered?

Apparently, there are many ways that can help with the recovery of the corrupted SQL Database. One of these methods is the DBCC CHECKDB command. To repair the SQL Database DBCC CHECKDB command can be a good choice. Now, we will discuss how this command works and can help restore the database. Let’s take a look at the steps of this method.

Steps for Recovery of Corrupted SQL Database

To restore the database after corruption, the user has to follow these steps:

1. Set the database in single-user mode first to avoid any interference from other users. Use command: ALTER DATABASE DB1 SET SINGLE_USER. (here DB1 is the reference name for the database, you have to change the name to your respective database name )
2. Now check the database for any corruption by entering the following command: DBCC CHECKDB(DB1)
3. After the database inspection, now choose the required repair option provided by the DBCC command. Here we are considering a case of minor database corruption. Use the command: DBCC CHECKDB(DB1, REPAIR_FAST).
4. After this, set the database back to multi-user mode by using the given code: ALTER DATABASE DB1 SET MULTI_USER.

These steps will help you to easily restore the database after a corruption. Based on the intensity of the database corruption, you can use the other repair options in the same command.

But when it comes to choosing this method for database recovery, users are often concerned if it is safe to run DBCC CHECKDB. To resolve that doubt we will discuss a little more about this method. So without any further delay, let’s proceed.

Is DBCC CHECKDB Command Safe to Use?

This is one of the major concerns for any user who has encountered database corruption or needs to recover the database. The concern majorly follows up with a fear of losing important data during the recovery process. So it becomes a bigger concern before choosing a repair tool.

To know if this method is safe or not, let’s take a look at what the tool offers.

• The DBCC (Database Console Command) CHECKDB is a built-in tool in SQL Server that can help with maintenance of the SQL Database. This makes it a reliable solution already as it is provided with the SQL Server itself. This makes it a safe method to be used in case of database corruption. The command helps to inspect, detect, and repair any corruption in the database.
• Along with corruption detection, it also offers multiple repair options that will help the users with the recovery of the corrupted SQL Database. The repair options are :

1. REPAIR_FAST
2. REPAIR_REBUILD
3. REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS

These options help in dealing with different intensities of database corruption. The REPAIR_FAST option helps with minor corruption in the database whereas the REPAIR_REBUILD deals with corruption or damages present in the database indexes.

• The last and the most crucial option is the REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS, this option is used as the last resort in case no other option works. This option primarily focuses on the recovery of the database after the corruption by majorly deleting the pages that are corrupted. The REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS option is only used to recover the database as the last resort as there are possibilities of complete data loss during the repair process. It is advised to follow proper backup protocols before using this DBCC CHECKDB repair option.

There are some scenarios where the DBCC CHECKDB command fails to recover the database due to some underlying issues or the severity of the corruption. In that case, you can use the expert tool to restore the SQL Server database. The tool we suggest is using a Professional Database Recovery Tool by SysTools. The tool offers numerous features to repair the database in an efficient manner.

Conclusion

Through this write-up, we have discussed how the SQL database encounters corruption and what can be the possible factors to cause this corruption. We also talked about the repair methods and how the DBCC CHECKDB command can help the user with the restoration of the corrupted SQL Database. But as every user has doubts about using a method or not, or concerns about their data getting lost, we have also resolved the users' query of whether is it safe to run DBCC CHECKDB. So in case you have encountered a database corruption, you can use the DBCC command to repair the database.