Why you should not shrink your database?

Question

Shrinking of data files should be performed even more rarely, if at all. Here's why: data file shrink can cause *massive* index fragmentation (of the out-of-order pages kind, not the wasted-space kind) and it is very expensive (in terms of I/O, locking, transaction log generation). 24 июн. 2009 г.

Why you should never shrink a database?

It's an unbelievably, disgustingly, repulsively bad idea. Your disk drive space is for files, not for ornamentation. You don't get bonused based on the amount of free space on your drives. Empty files don't take longer to back up.

Is it safe to shrink database?

In these cases, repeatedly shrinking the database is a wasted operation, and likely created the need for autogrowth events to reclaim the space, hindering performance. A shrink operation does not preserve the fragmentation state of indexes in the database, and generally increases fragmentation to a degree.

Should I shrink database or files?

Databases tend to grow as more data gets put in them. It's in their nature. Shrinking causes massive fragmentation and will just result in the data file growing again next time data gets added. When that happens, the entire system will slow down as the file is expanded.

Is it safe to shrink log file?

It's safe, but do it at a quiet time when there's low transactional activity. It's recommended to shrink the log to its minimal size and then grow it to its normal size (this will ensure the correct number of VLFs (internal virtual log files) are created, which improves performance for logged commands).

Expert · Answer