Can full drive backup be used instead of MSSQL database backup? I have a MSSQL Express server running on a VM.  Hosting provider I use has an option to create drive snapshots. The server is running all the time and is not stopped during the drive backup. Backup has no special functionality related to MSSQL. If I keep my data files on such drive and use snapshots in case of disaster recovery, are there any risks that database may not be restored?
Backup has no special functionality related to MSSQL.


Typically server backup programs will coordinate with SQL Server through the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to ensure that SQL Server places the database files in a consistent state before volume snapshots are taken.  At a minimum backup programs should create backups that are consistent on a per-volume basis.

However, even in an enterprise environment where you have trusted professionals performing server backups using a configuration you can verify, very few DBAs would actually rely on server backups.  Remember backups alone are irrelevant.  Restores are what you actually care about.  

So how are you going to perform a restore if you rely on server backups?  Not easily, that's for sure.

So take backups.  Then download them regularly from your hoster, or upload them to a cloud storage provider, eg:


Sign up for an Azure account
Provision a storage account (LRS + Cool default tier)
Use SQL Server's Backup to URL feature to take database backups directly to your storage account.