Transaction Log Management
Every SQL Server database has a log that records all the transactions and database modifications made by each transaction. The transaction log is a critical component of any database, and understanding and managing this log is a critical part of the database administrator's role. This is particularly true under the full and bulk-logged recovery models, which require backing up the log on a regular basis.
This section also contains essential information about the basic architecture of transaction logs and how to manage them.
Important
To minimize the risk of damage to your transaction log, we recommend that you locate the transaction log on fault-tolerant storage, such as mirrored disks.
In This Section
Introduction to Transaction Logs
Introduces the transaction log and the actions that it supports, and contains links to more advanced information about transaction logs.Recovery Models and Transaction Log Management
Discusses the role of the recovery model of a database in transaction log management, how to choose the recovery model for a database, transactions that are minimally logged in the bulk-logged and simple recovery models, and guidelines for switching recovery models.Managing the Transaction Log
Discusses managing log space, managing long-running transactions, and the factors that can delay log truncation.