>That backup is about 100k. What wouldn't I need to increase the size of my database to 300 Mbyte just to be able to restore 100k?

I can't find any specific information but I can take a guess. When you create a database, allocates the space from the specified devices. The pages within the database are numbered starting at zero. The following statement will create a database with a one meg. data segment and a one meg. log segment:

CREATE DATABASE mike
ON dev1 = 1 LOG ON dev2 = 1

The data segment will on pages 0 through 511. The log segment will be on pages 512 through 1023 (if my math is correct <g>).

When you preform a backup, not only will SQL Server backup the data but also the log. So it has to restore the log to the correct page. In this case the page that the log starts with is 512. If I stored only one byte in this database, I would have to at least have the database sized to two megs.

-Mike