Hello
For SQL Server 2012 and above, is a restart of SQL Server actually required after changing the default backup location? I know it isn't required for the change to take effect but I am worried it will revert without a restart or something similar.
Thanks!
I believe that's a registry change to make the change. Once the change has been made it won't take affect until the server has been restarted. I don't think there is anything that will revert it without some sort of manual action.
It's an easy thing to test. Just login to a test server, change default backup location and run a backup of a database with
BACKUP DATABASE master TO disk='mastertestbackup.bak' WITH COPY_ONLY
I just did, and it takes effect immediately without a service restart.
Oh, and don't run the backup command without COPY_ONLY, that will break the backup-chain should you need to restore the database later on, as this falls outside of your normal backup routine.
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