Azure Sync and Restore for On-Premises SQL Server Databases

Azure Blob Storage Backup is a feature built right into SQL Server, but it is only available in SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 CU 2 and higher.

Furthermore, there is no ability in any version of SQL Server prior to 2016, to back up to more than one location simultaneously. You have to choose between local backups or Azure Blob Storage. It is not possible to pick both. This is especially problematic if you perform Differential Backups.

AzureBlobStorageSync is a free tool that allows you to continue backing up your database locally, for any version of SQL Server, and synchronise your files to Azure Blob Storage on a schedule of your choosing.

There is a companion restore tool, AzureBlobStorageRestore, also free, which is able to download the latest database (including Full, Differential and Transaction Log Backups), only knowing the name of the database, and build a restore script. This is especially useful if you suffer a catastrophic failure and have no other knowledge of the backups (e.g. the content of the database).

You can download the source code (written in C#) from GitHub at https://github.com/bornsql/azureblobstoragesync.

The GitHub page is the best source for information or documentation on how it works.