Restoring SQL DB from down SQL Server (on domain) to existing SQL server (not on domain)

If and when my SQL server goes down and takes too long to get back up, can I restore my DB on another SQL server and run my software from there (I can point which SQL server to run from)?

Will all metadata and indexes and foreign keys be restored too?

Also my current SQL server is on our domain, the other one I have is on its own workgroup... Would it still be possible? Or would I need to join it to the domain first?

If you are using Windows (AD) security currently, in your non-AD environment since those accounts aren't available, you could access the restored data in both environments with SQL Server accounts which you can set up in advance. SA is there, and you can create others.

Since it sounds like you are planning for disaster, I'd create a SQL Server account that is in the sysadmin role in advance. That way you can be sure it will be there in your non-AD environment after a restore. Here's a general ref.

I'm also assuming you are accessing the SQL data for consumption by an application, not just simply bringing the data online for ad hoc querying, so planning ahead for the non-AD environment by having a SQL account handy that works on both sides would be advisable.

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#17033, answer score: 2