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Home » Article Discussions » Article Discussions by Author » Discuss content posted by James Rea » Transaction Log Growth, do you need it?
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James_DBA
Posted Saturday, January 03, 2009 6:03 PM


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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Transaction Log Growth, do you need it?

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Post #629390
SuperDBA-207096
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 4:41 AM


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James,
Well done! an excellent article...

Mark
Post #629683
Indianrock
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 5:46 AM
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Multiple log files: I thought the recommendation was one log file per cpu, for performance?


Post #629710
HanShi
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 5:56 AM


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Indianrock (1/5/2009)
Multiple log files: I thought the recommendation was one log file per cpu, for performance?

That's recommended for the data-files of the TempDB... (also keep them the same size)

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Post #629720
Indianrock
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 6:05 AM
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Oh, of course. I made my comment before the coffee was ready, sorry.


Post #629724
DavidSimpson
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 8:11 AM
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Good article. One thing to add, if running SQL2K5 or later on Windows 2003 or later, enable instance file initialization. Doing this will minimize the impact of growing the log or data file, especially for larger growth settings.

David


Post #629830
Indianrock
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 8:30 AM
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This article indicates Instant File Initialization is only for data files.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/physdbstor.mspx

Instant File Initialization

SQL Server 2005 added support for the Windows instant file initialization feature. By default, when a file is created or grows larger, the pages in that file are initialized by writing zeros before the file gets used. This overwrites any existing data that remains on the disk. Instant initialization is only used for data files (not log files) and is enabled when the account running SQL Server has the Windows SE MANAGE VOLUME NAME privilege, which is available only on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 or later versions. This occurs in five scenarios:
•

During file creation
•

CREATE DATABASE, including tempdb creation at server startup.
•

RESTORE DATABASE
•

During file modification
•

ALTER DATABASE...MODIFY FILE.
•

Modifications that result in autogrow activity.


Post #629855
Steve Jones - SSC Editor
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 9:00 AM


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Good job, James. A nice explanation that I'll have to remember to run-run periodically.

I thought I heard last year that there's no great benefit to multiple log files, except space management. I wish I had a reference for that now.






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Post #629890
DavidSimpson
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 10:00 AM
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This article indicates Instant File Initialization is only for data files.


That was an oversight on my part, you are correct. To much R&R over the holiday I guess.

David


Post #629950
James_DBA
Posted Monday, January 05, 2009 10:32 AM


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Steve, and everyone else...

Thanks for the great compliments!

Yes, as mentioned in my article, there is no performance benefit to multiple log files. It seems the only benefit is file management for disk space and other administrative tasks where you would want the log file in a smaller size (i.e. disk mirroring, or limited hard drive space).

BOL: Adding and Deleting Data and Transaction Log Files (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191433.aspx), says "SQL Server uses a proportional fill strategy across all the files within each filegroup and writes an amount of data proportional to the free space in the file. This enables the new file to be used immediately. In this way, all files generally become full at about the same time. However, transaction log files cannot be part of a filegroup; they are separate from one another. As the transaction log grows, the first log file fills, then the second, and so on, by using a fill-and-go strategy instead of a proportional fill strategy. Therefore, when a log file is added, it cannot be used by the transaction log until the other files have been filled first."

This is a solid indication that there is no benefit to performance when using multiple transaction log files.

Thanks,
James

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