Invalid zero-length device name. Reissue the BACKUP statement with a valid device name.

Error Message:
Msg 3044, Level 16, State 2, Line 2
Invalid zero-length device name. Reissue the BACKUP statement with a valid device name.

Severity level:
16.

Description:
This error message appears when you try to backup a database to a media with a name of length 0.

Consequences:
The T-SQL statement can be parsed, but causes the error at runtime.

Resolution:
Errors of the Severity Level 16 are generated by the user and are corrigible by the user. The statement cannot be executed this way. The media name must have a name with a length > 0 and it must be valid.

Versions:
All versions of SQL Server.

Example(s):
USE Pubs
BACKUP DATABASE Pubs TO DISK =”

Remarks:
In the above example we try to backup the Pubs database to disk. Because we use a media name with a length of 0, the error is raised.