SQL Server Backup Tutorial
Overview
One of your last lines of defense for just about any system is to have a backup in place in case there is a need to recover some or all of your data. This is also true for SQL Server.
Each database can have only one recovery model, but each of your databases can use a different recovery model, so depending on the processing and the backup needs you can select the appropriate recovery model per database. The only exception to this is the TempDB database which has to use the "Simple" recovery model.
Also, the database recovery model can be changed at any time, but this will impact your backup chain, so it is a good practice to issue a full backup after you change your recovery model.
The recovery model can be changed by either using T-SQL or SQL Server Management Studio. Following are examples on how to do this.
Using T-SQL to change to the "Full" recovery for the AdventureWorks database.
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks SET RECOVERY FULL GO
Using the SSMS to change the recovery model for the AdventureWorks database.