SQL Server

Overview

Database Administration
Database Files

Database Programming
Database Files
 SQL Server maps a database over a set of
operating-system files
 Data and log information are never mixed in the
same file
 individual files are used only by one database
 SQL Server databases have three types of files:
 Primary data files
 Secondary data files
 Log files

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Primary data files
 The primary data file is the starting point of the
database and points to the other files in the
database.
 Every database has one primary data file.
 The file name extension for primary data files is
.mdf.

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Secondary data files
 Secondary data files make up all the data files,
other than the primary data file.
 Some databases may not have any secondary
data files, while others have several secondary
data files.
 The file name extension for secondary data files
is .ndf.

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Log files
 Log files hold all the log information that is used
to recover the database.
 There must be at least one log file for each
database, although there can be more than one.
 The file name extension for log files is .ldf.

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Logical / Physical File Names
 SQL Server files have two names:
 logical_file_name
 the name used to refer to the physical file in all
Transact-SQL statements.
 must comply with the rules for SQL Server identifiers
and must be unique among logical file names in the
database.
 os_file_name
 thename of the physical file including the path.
 must follow the rules for the operating system file
names.
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File Size
 Files are created by specifying their initial size
 If
size is missing, the size of the primary file in the
model database will be used
 File growth increment can also be specified
 Every time the file is filled, it increases its size by the
growth increment.
 Each file can also have a maximum size
specified.
 Ifa maximum size is not specified, the file can
continue to grow until it has used all available space
on the disk.

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Database Filegroups
 Database objects and files can be grouped
together in filegroups for allocation and
administration purposes.
 Log files cannot be placed in a filegroup.
 No file can be a member of more than one filegroup.
 Tables, indexes, and large object data can be
associated with a specified filegroup.

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The Default filegroup
 One filegroup in each database is designated
the default filegroup.
 When a table or index is created without
specifying a filegroup, they will be created in the
default filegroup.
 Only one filegroup at a time can be the default
filegroup.
 If no default filegroup is specified, the primary
filegroup is the default filegroup.

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Types of filegroups
 There are two types of filegroups:
 Primary filegroup
 The primary filegroup contains
 the primary data file and
 any other files not specifically assigned to another filegroup.
 Allpages for the system tables are allocated in the
primary filegroup.
 User-defined filegroup
 areany filegroups that are specified by using the
FILEGROUP keyword in a CREATE DATABASE or
ALTER DATABASE statement.

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Create Database [Syntax]
CREATE DATABASE database_name
[ ON
[ PRIMARY ]
[ <filespec> [ ,...n ]

[ , <filegroup> [ ,...n ] ]

[ LOG ON { <filespec> [ ,...n ] } ]

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Example 1
USE master;
GO
CREATE DATABASE MyDB
ON PRIMARY
( NAME='MyDB_Primary',
FILENAME= 'c:\TestDB\data\MyDB_Prm.mdf',
SIZE=4MB,
MAXSIZE=10MB,
FILEGROWTH=1MB)

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Example 2
USE master;
GO
CREATE DATABASE MyDB
ON PRIMARY
( NAME='MyDB_Primary',
FILENAME= 'c:\TestDB\data\MyDB_Prm.mdf',
SIZE=4MB,
MAXSIZE=10MB,
FILEGROWTH=1MB)
FILEGROUP MyDB_FG1
( NAME = 'MyDB_FG1_Dat1',
FILENAME = 'c:\ TestDB\data\MyDB_FG1_1.ndf',
SIZE = 1MB,
MAXSIZE=10MB,
FILEGROWTH=1MB)
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Example 3
CREATE TABLE [database_name.[owner].] table_name
(<column name> <data type>
[ [DEFAULT <constant expression>]
| [IDENTITY [(seed, increment)] ] ]
[NULL|NOT NULL]
[<column constraints>]
| [column_name AS computed_column_expression]

| [<table_constraint>]
[,...n]
)
[ON {<filegroup>|DEFAULT}]
[TEXTIMAGE_ON {<filegroup>|DEFAULT}]

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Example 4
USE master;
GO

ALTER DATABASE MyDB

-- Create a table in the user-defined filegroup.

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 The
Transaction Log

Database Administration
Transaction Log
 When SQL Server needs to modify data:
 It reads the page that contains the database records into
memory
 It makes the required changes on the pages in memory

 Pages are NOT instantly written to the disk because:

 Keeping changes on the data pages in memory has

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Transaction Log (cont.)
 SQL Server uses the Transaction Log to keep track of
the changes made in the memory pages
 Changes made on the memory pages are instantly written onto
the transaction Log files (on disk)
 This is what makes the transaction Log file fundamental to SQL
Server’s Recovery process
 This is why SQL Server’s Transaction Log is called
Write-Ahead-Log

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Write Ahead Log

Write Ahead Log (video: duration less than 4 min)

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Write Ahead Log
 XXX

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Page copied to memory

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Modification made in memory & log

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More pages moved to memory

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More changes made in memory

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Data written back to database

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After system crash …..

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System Databases

Database Administration
Database Administration
 By default, SQL Server provides you with four main
systems databases:
 master Database
 msdb Database
 model Database
 tempdb Database

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master Database
 The master database stores all the system-level
information of an SQL Server instance.
 This information which includes:
 Server configuration settings
 Logon accounts
 Startup stored procedure
 File locations of user databases

 If the master database is unavailable, the SQL Server

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master Database (cont.)
 When you work with the master database, you should:
 Have a current backup of the master database.
 If the master database is corrupted, you can restore it from the
backup.
 Back up the master database as soon as possible whenever
some major operations.
 The master database should be backed up after the
following operations:
 Creating, modifying, and dropping any database
 Changing the server configurations
 Update the logon accounts including adding, removing, and
modifying

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msdb Database
 The msdb is used by the SQL Server Agent for
scheduling jobs and alerts.
 It also stores the history of the SQL Agent jobs

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model Database
 SQL Server uses the model database as the template for
creating other databases.
 When you create a new database, SQL Server copies
the contents of the model database including database
options to the new database.
 If you modify the model database, all databases that you
create afterward will take these changes.

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tempdb Database
 The tempdb database stores
 temporary user objects that you explicitly create
 temporary tables and table variables.
 the internal objects that the database engine creates
 For example, the tempdb database stores the immediate sort results for
running the queries that include the ORDER BY clause.

 SQL Server recreates the tempdb database every time it

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Summary
 The master system database stores system-level
information of the SQL server instance
 The msdb database is used by SQL Server Agent for
jobs & alerts
 The model database is served as a template for creating
other databases
 The tempdb system database stores the temporary
objects

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