File-snapshot backups
One of the benefits of configuring SQL Server data files in Azure is the ability to leverage file-snapshot backups. This is summarized in Figure 4.13, where 1 shows the successful setup of the data files in Azure (a prerequisite covered earlier on) and 2 is the high-level design of how the data files and snapshot files interact with each other after a full backup takes place:

Figure 4.13: Snapshot backups
The full database backup using snapshot technology creates a snapshot of each data and log file that is part of the database and establishes the transaction log backup chain for point-in-time recovery. When consequent transaction log backups are taken, transaction log file-snapshot backups are generated, which contain file snapshots of all database files, too. These can then be used to perform a database restore or a log restore to a point in time. This approach means that you do not need additional full or differential backups after...