Is tempdb required for database functionality?

  • Hello,

    I'm trying to determine if tempdb requires RAID 1 ....

    if tempdb becomes unavaialable, ie: single disk crash, are the system databases (ie: master, msdb) or user databases affected? Can they still be accessed?

    Many thanks. Jeff

  • Yes, tempdb is required. Without tempdb the SQL Server will shut down. An example is when too many people are attempting to login just as SQL Server is coming up. If SQL Server can't allocate a worker thread to tempdb it'll shut down. Microsoft published a KB article and offered a fix in order to ensure tempdb can start before the users are allowed to log in if this is a problem in a given environment:

    FIX: SQL Server 2000 may not start if many users try to log in to SQL Server when SQL Server is trying to start (834798)

    However, remember that tempdb is recreated every time SQL Server is restarted. Model is copied over and SQL Server changes a few settings (cross database ownership chaining is one) and that becomes tempdb.

    K. Brian Kelley
    @kbriankelley

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