For most businesses, the SQL server is the foundation for their ERP solutions that support their business applications with extensive storage and data. These databases contain critical information for the business, valuable data associated with the business’s history, intelligence, and all of the data that the company needs for its healthy maintenance and daily operations. This data needs to be organized and operated smoothly as the company must function meticulously.
The role of the DBA
The database administrator’s role is vital in such businesses as they have a long list of activities to do. This includes clearing out old data sets that are no longer required to install regular software updates and everything else in between for the database. However, have you considered the right size of your system when it comes to this database list?
Experienced professionals in the field of database management and administration state there are several tactics that you can deploy to keep your database system efficient and agile. It all starts with sizing the system correctly and keeping it managed well for your company’s growth.
How can you correctly size your database?
When it comes to database management, you should size it correctly, as this is the process that plays a vital role in the database’s performance. It should be included in the preliminary design. Note that your database is deep, and to keep them functioning well, it should be made as narrow as possible with a sensible design. For instance, you might switch from Excel sheet to MS Access systems as the business spreadsheets you have are quite deep and wide that you cannot view the data trees properly.
The Access database field for texts holds around 255 characters. This means if you need to design any table that needs a field to hold 255 characters but cannot hold over 20 characters, it is obvious that the system will become slow and fat.
At the same time, you will find that MS Access gives you many helpful archiving queries that collect the old data and places them in different tables. They are later taken to storage so that they stay away from everyday operations. You will also find a command for compact and repair in the MS Access that, in addition to data repair, mitigates collected junk that depletes the whole performance of your database system. The strategy and design of the database system play a vital role in boosting the business applications’ efficiency and the whole operations of your business.
Migration to SQL servers
Like the above example, when you migrate to the MS SQL server, it is primarily because you desire to store additional data and keep everything else separated from the system that generates it. Though Microsoft Access is an amazing application and other databases lightweight in nature, it has an endpoint where the forms, switchboards, macros, objects, and more have been collecting your data and making it fight with one another for storage space. So, when your business reaches this endpoint, what should it do?
Downsize the SQL server system
Now, the next question is, why would you want to downsize your system? The answer is obvious, you have collected a lot of data over the years, and your system is just carrying the extra weight of data pages, unused and archaic data. If you have a sinking database, you must get in touch with professional and experienced DBA experts.
Esteemed name in remote database administration and management, RemoteDBA.com state that like Microsoft Access, the SQL server also has multiple ways to divert obsolete data and make an archive for it. For instance, you can use the Make-Table SQL Query for the task. This table will detect old records and make a new table. Again, the Delete query cleans the original table by removing the archived data in these records.
You either have two extra options to decrease the SQL server’s size – you can shrink it or compress it.
You should shrink the SQL system when
- You have to mitigate a large volume of data from a huge SQL database
- Your database will not grow
- You have to empty a data file before you can remove it.
Limitations for you to note
Database shrinking has the following restrictions and limits-
- It does not make the system smaller than the minimum database size that has been specified when you have made it.
- The database will not function while you take a back-up of the system.
- It cannot be done together with a database backup.
- It will fail to function when it faces the latest features of the column store indexes, which should be disabled and restored later so that the shrink works.
Professional DBA support experts state that you do not need to fix it if the system is not broken. The main takeaway here is that database systems need free space and so repeatedly shrinking a database does not mean that your system will not grow again. It implies that the space that you have shrunk is required for daily business operations. In such a case, you should not shrink the database as it is merely a waste of time.
SQL data compression
This refers to using a special code to help your SQL data files take up less space on the disk for storage for accelerating data transmission between the server and user. Data compression does not mean that the size of the database becomes smaller. It saves space on the disk and boosts performance.
The disadvantage of the above is that your business needs extra CPU resources on database servers to compress and decompress this data as it grows. Again, compression has no positive effect on specific data types like, for example, text and data. However, there are some types of data that you can compress without hassles. If you have a heavy database and wish to make it lighter, consult professionals from credible database management and administration companies to assess the system and give you customized solutions for it with success.