Backing Up SQL Table Structure and Data

There are multiple ways to export data for backup from SQL Server. Each has different pros and cons. Some are easy to export, but then a pain to import or viceversa. I'd like to take a few posts and examine each of the methods that I use, how it works and the pros/cons of each.

Here are the three methods I will discuss in future posts:


Export Data and Script Table - Export data to file and script table to a SQL file.
Bulk Copy Program - Use BCP to export the data and script table to a SQL file.
Script Database - Generate scripts for the database which includes structure and data.

I'll be using SQL Server 2008 for all of my examples. I'll make sure and update this post with links to the posts with the information so this can be used as a data exporting index. How exciting!