SQL Server Database Corruption: Errors, Causes, and Solutions

by Daniel Ng

The SQL Server is one of the most important elements of the professional world. The server stores all the physical data files in .mdf file format. The first page of the file contains the header information. The header page is responsible for keeping the information regarding the Database such as file signature, size, and other important items. If you want to attach the MDF file to the SQL server, you might encounter different types of errors such as SQL Server error 5171, MS SQL Server Header error 5172, and SQL Server Error 2. This is undoubtedly one of the most devastating corruptions of the MS SQL server. As a result, The MS MDF file will also suffer from corruption. Due to the errors, the header information will be mismatched and therefore, makes the MS SQL Server database inaccessible.

SQL Server Database Corruption: Causes and Solutions

The SQL Server database is not invincible and might suffer from corruption. Here are the possible situations that will undoubtedly corrupt the MS SQL Server database.

Rebooting the Server

When you reboot the server, you will be able to fix minor issues from the end of the operating systems. If you notice problems from the server’s end, you might not be able to solve MS SQL Server corruption by rebooting the server. Rebooting the system will make the database operate in offline mode. This might lead to other problematic situations.

Shutting the Server Down

Once you’re done identifying the MS SQL master database corruption as per the SQL server, you might think that shutting down the server will help you solve this problem. However, you should avoid this as this step might make the MS SQL server inaccessible.

Upgrading the SQL Server

Don’t upgrade the SQL server as quickly as possible after a new update rolls out. You might face some new hurdles as the newer versions are full of glitches. Instead, make sure you wait for a few days.

Running Repair Commands

Make sure you’re not running the DBCC CHECKDB command prompt unnecessarily. This should be kept as the last resort. If all the other methods fail to work, only then you can consider running this method. Even though this command might prove effective at fixing SQL Server database corruption, you might end up losing data items permanently.

What Prevention Steps Do You Need to Remember?

There are various prevention methods that you need to keep in mind if you don’t want to face MS SQL server database corruption. Make sure you pay close attention to these methods:

Enter proper data validation.
Making improper functionalities will make your system vulnerable to hackers. Hence, consider avoiding this.
Ensure that your system is not suffering from any malicious attack as it can corrupt the SQL Server database.
Consider using the best web application firewall. As per Cloud Flare, WAF can monitor HTTP traffic.

However, there are some effective manual techniques you need to consider if you want to solve the SQL Server database corruption quickly.

Manual Methods to Repair SQL Server Database Corruption

The manual methods will undoubtedly help you solve the MS SQL server database corruption. Even though they are effective, keep in mind that manual methods are perfect only for minor SQL Server database corruption. Hence, you should not expect immediate results as you will only be making the data items more vulnerable. This method is extremely dependent on the level of SQL server corruption you’re facing. This is because the manual methods will fail to prove effective for some specific corruptions. Here are the manual methods that MS SQL users need to consider while repairing the corruption:

If you want to fix this issue, you can use the backup file or log file so that you can repair the SQL server database. However, in cases when the corruption level is high, this method might also fail to work.
The users can also go through the database console command DBCC REPAIR as well as DBCC CHECKDB so that they can fix the MS SQL server corruption easily. But these methods can only be implemented when a user has great technical knowledge. Hence, non-technical users should not consider this step. This method will only work for minor-level corruption.

You might be wondering if the manual methods are effective for minor levels of SQL Server corruption, then what to do in case the corruption of the SQL server is severe? Your only solution is to use third-party software.

How Can You Repair MS SQL Server Database Corruption Using Third-Party Software?

When you use third-party MS SQL recovery software, you will never face any problem repairing even a severely corrupted MS SQL server. With the help of the quickly recover option, the corrupted database will be repaired within a couple of minutes. Additionally, unlike DBCC CHECKDB, you don’t need to worry about losing valuable data.