What does MSDB database contain?

What is the purpose of Msdb?

The msdb database is used by SQL Server Agent for scheduling alerts and jobs and by other features such as SQL Server Management Studio, Service Broker and Database Mail. For example, SQL Server automatically maintains a complete online backup-and-restore history within tables in msdb.

Why is MSDB database so large?

MSDB stores backup and restore history. Imagine a server with 2000 databases that takes a log backup of all of them every 15 minutes. That's 192,000 new rows into the backupset and backupmediaset tables EVERY DAY! Keeping a few weeks or months of history can cause the size of MSDB to get very large.

Are all SQL Server Agent configurations stored in the MSDB database?

The msdb database is mostly known as “the SQL Server Agent database” because it stores information of all SQL Agent jobs as their configuration and their execution history. But it is not dedicated mainly to SQL Server Agent. Features like the Service Broker or the Database Mail also stores data in msdb database.

What are the basic functions for master Msdb model tempdb databases?

The msdb database stores information regarding database backups, SQL Agent information, DTS packages, SQL Server jobs, and some replication information such as for log shipping. The tempdb holds temporary objects such as global and local temporary tables and stored procedures.