Managing the Transaction Log

This topic discusses the routine management of transaction log space to prevent the transaction log from becoming full.

Log truncation, which is automatic under the simple recovery model, is essential to keep the log from filling. The truncation process reduces the size of the logical log file by marking as inactive the virtual log files that do not hold any part of the logical log. In some cases, however, physically shrinking or expanding the physical log file is useful.

Note

A small autogrowth increment on a log file can also reduce performance. The file growth increment on a log file should be sufficiently large to avoid frequent expansion. The default growth increment of 10 percent is generally suitable. For information on changing the file-growth property on a log file, see ALTER DATABASE (Transact-SQL).

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