Error 3241: The media family on the device is incorrectly formed

Sometimes we may receive the error message shown below when restoring the database from the backup file using SQL Server Management Studio –

The media family on the device 'Backupfile.bak' is incorrectly formed; the SQL Server cannot process this media family.
RESTORE HEADER ONLY is terminating abnormally. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 3241)

Cause
The backup file was corrupted due to the uploaded file using FTP Text Mode.

Solution
You must always upload the backup file using FTP in Binary Mode, and the restore operation will be successful.