Master, Model, MSDB -Logfiles and Location

  • Hi,
    Is it useful to also put the log files of the system databases on extra device?
    Data = D: \ Master.mdb
    Log = E: \ Master.ldf

    And so on for Model and MSDB

    Regards
    Nicole
    🙂

  • Those three databases get so little activity that it's not worth separating their files.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • Agree with Gail...most servers I see have system dbs in one place (excluding TempDB).

    Every now and then a box with heavy job activity (SSRS, tons of databases needing to be backed up, mail, etc.) will move it, but its pretty rare.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Standing in the gap between Consultant and ContractorKevin3NFDallasDBAs.com/BlogWhy is my SQL Log File HUGE?!?![/url]The future of the DBA role...[/url]SQL Security Model in Plain English[/url]

  • When I inherit SQL Servers, this is one of the first things I check for, where are the system databases. 50% of the time they are found on the C drive. Not good as the C drive should be reserved for OS. 30% of the time they are on the same drives as the application databases, highly not recommended. The other 20% they are on they are on the D drive or a dedicated drive.

    When I provision or provide a disk layout for a new SQL Server to be build I always recommend a minimum layout similar to:
    C   dedicated to OS
    D   tools, etc, SQL will be install here
    F   dedicated to database data files
    G   dedicated to database log files
    T    dedicated to tempdb, mdf and ldf files
    S   dedicated to the system databases, Master, MSDB, Moded.
    Z    dedicated to Backups

  • Agreed

    Here is the disk layout we have in our environment

    Separate mount point for system databases, which contain all the data and log files for the system databases, except temp DB

    for temp DB, we have a dedicated local drive with a fixed size. We configure temp DB sizing so that we rarely will have to expand temp DB

    Then there are mount points for user databases with dedicated mount points for databases > 200 GB in size

  • Are the disks directly attached to the server or are they on a SAN?  If the files are located on a SAN then splitting things out into separate logical drives may not really help anything, as each logical drive is likely sourced from the same underlying physical disk array on the SAN.

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