Database Snapshots

Database snapshots are a new feature available in SQL Server 2005. They are read-only and are only available in the Enterprise edition. If you think of the metaphor of a photo snapshot, you have a pretty good idea of database snapshots. They effectively give you the same result, though the process is a little different.

Database snapshots are created at a moment in time. They can be used for reporting purposes for that given time. In the event of some type of user or administrative error, you can easily revert the source database to the state it was in when the snapshot was created.