Chapter 4. Logging and Recovery

Kalen Delaney

In Chapter 3, I told you about the data files that are created to hold information in a Microsoft SQL Server database. Every database also has at least one file that stores its transaction log. I referred to SQL Server transaction logs and log files in Chapter 3, but I did not really go into detail about how a log file is different from a data file and exactly how SQL Server uses its log files. In this chapter, I tell you about the structure of SQL Server log files and how they’re managed when transaction information is logged. I explain how SQL Server log files grow and when and how a log file can be reduced in size. Finally, I look at how log files are used during SQL Server backup and restore operations ...

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