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Configuring Database Auto Growth in SQL Server is an essential task to ensure that your database
files grow efficiently without causing performance issues or running out of space unexpectedly.

Proper configuration of auto-growth settings can help maintain optimal database performance, minimize
fragmentation, and prevent disk space issues.

What Is Auto Growth in SQL Server?

Auto growth in SQL Server is a mechanism that automatically increases the size of a database file (data or
log) when the available space is exhausted. When data is inserted into a database, and there's not enough
allocated space, SQL Server will grow the file based on the configured auto-growth settings.

Why Is Proper Configuration Important?

Misconfigured auto-growth settings can lead to:

- Performance degradation: Frequent small auto-growth events can slow down transactions.
- Disk fragmentation: Small, frequent file growths result in fragmented files on the disk, leading to slower
disk I/O.
- Disk space exhaustion: Improperly managed growth can fill up the disk quickly.

Therefore, configuring auto-growth to match your database size and workload is crucial.

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Auto Growth Configuration Options

Each database in SQL Server consists of two types of files:

- Data Files (MDF/NDF): Store the actual database data.
- Log Files (LDF): Store transaction logs required for database recovery.

Auto-growth settings can be configured separately for each file.

The auto-growth options available for each file are:

1. Percentage growth: The file grows by a certain percentage of its current size.
2. Fixed size growth: The file grows by a fixed number of megabytes (MB).

Best Practices for Configuring Auto Growth

- Avoid percentage-based growth for larger databases, as it can lead to massive file growths as the
database size increases.
- Use fixed growth sizes to control the growth rate, prevent oversized files, and avoid performance
bottlenecks during growth operations.
- Monitor file growth events regularly to adjust settings as needed.
- Set appropriate initial file sizes to minimize the need for frequent auto-growth events.

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How to Configure Auto Growth in SQL Server

Auto-growth settings can be configured through SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or using T-SQL.

1. Configuring Auto Growth Using SSMS

Step-by-Step Guide
1. Open SSMS and connect to your SQL Server instance.
2. Expand Databases, and right-click on the database you want to configure.
3. Select Properties from the context menu.
4. In the Database Properties window, select the Files page from the left-hand panel.
5. In the Database files section, you will see a list of data files and log files.
- Data Files (MDF/NDF): These store your actual database data.
- Log Files (LDF): These store transaction logs.

6. Under the Autogrowth column, click the ... button next to the file you want to configure.
- For example, if you're configuring the data file, click the button next to the MDF file.

7. The Change Autogrowth for [FileName] dialog box will appear.

- File Growth by Percent: SQL Server will grow the file by a percentage of the current file size.
- File Growth by Megabytes: SQL Server will grow the file by a fixed number of megabytes.
- Maximum File Size: You can set a limit for the maximum size that the file can grow.

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8. Recommended Settings:
- Data File: Set the growth in MB rather than a percentage. Depending on your database size, you can
choose something like 500 MB or 1000 MB.
- Log File: Set the growth in MB. For transaction logs, use a smaller size (e.g., 512 MB or 1 GB).

9. Click OK to save the changes.

10. Review the configuration and click OK in the Database Properties window to finalize the settings.

Example Configuration
For a database with an initial size of 5 GB:
- Data file (MDF): Set auto-growth to 1000 MB.
- Log file (LDF): Set auto-growth to 512 MB.

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2. Configuring Auto Growth Using T-SQL

Auto-growth can also be configured using T-SQL commands to modify the database files.

View Current Auto Growth Settings

To check the current auto-growth settings for a specific database, use the following query:

SELECT
name AS FileName,
type_desc AS FileType,
size / 128.0 AS CurrentSizeMB,
growth AS GrowthSetting,
is_percent_growth AS IsPercentGrowth
FROM sys.master_files
WHERE database_id = DB_ID('YourDatabaseName');

Setting Auto Growth for Data Files

To configure the auto-growth for a data file (MDF or NDF) using T-SQL, use the following command:

ALTER DATABASE [YourDatabaseName]

MODIFY FILE (NAME = N'YourDataFileName', FILEGROWTH = 1000MB);

- Replace YourDatabaseName with the actual database name.

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- Replace YourDataFileName with the logical name of the data file.
- Set FILEGROWTH = 1000MB to configure the auto-growth size to 1000 MB (1 GB).

Setting Auto Growth for Log Files

To configure the auto-growth for a log file (LDF) using T-SQL:

ALTER DATABASE [YourDatabaseName]

MODIFY FILE (NAME = N'YourLogFileName', FILEGROWTH = 512MB);

- Set FILEGROWTH = 512MB to configure the log file to grow by 512 MB.

Example: Configuring Auto Growth for Both Files

-- Set data file auto-growth to 1000 MB

ALTER DATABASE [MyDatabase]
MODIFY FILE (NAME = N'MyDatabase_Data', FILEGROWTH = 1000MB);

-- Set log file auto-growth to 512 MB

ALTER DATABASE [MyDatabase]
MODIFY FILE (NAME = N'MyDatabase_Log', FILEGROWTH = 512MB);

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Limiting Maximum File Size (Optional)

If you want to limit the maximum size of a database file, you can add the MAXSIZE option:

ALTER DATABASE [MyDatabase]

MODIFY FILE (NAME = N'MyDatabase_Data', FILEGROWTH = 1000MB, MAXSIZE = 20000MB); -- Max
size 20 GB

3. Monitoring and Auditing Auto-Growth Events

It’s essential to monitor the frequency of auto-growth events to fine-tune your configurations. SQL Server
logs auto-growth events in the default trace, which can be queried.

Query to Monitor Auto-Growth Events

SELECT
DatabaseName = DB_NAME(t.DatabaseID),
t.StartTime,
t.FileName,
t.FileType,
t.SizeChangeKB / 1024 AS SizeChangeMB
FROM sys.traces AS tr
CROSS APPLY sys.fn_trace_gettable(CONVERT(VARCHAR(150), tr.path), DEFAULT) AS t

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WHERE t.EventClass = 92 -- Event class 92 is for Auto Growth events
ORDER BY t.StartTime DESC;

This query will return details of auto-growth events, including the database name, file name, and the
amount of space added.

Auto Growth Best Practices

1. Use Fixed Growth Sizes: Avoid percentage-based growth for large databases. Use a fixed size (MB) to
prevent oversized growth events that can lead to performance issues.

2. Right-Sizing Growth Intervals: Configure growth sizes based on database usage and workload. For
example:
- Small databases: Set auto-growth to 100 MB or 500 MB.
- Medium databases: Set auto-growth to 1000 MB.
- Large databases: Set auto-growth to 5000 MB or higher.

3. Set Appropriate Initial Size: Pre-allocate enough space to minimize the need for frequent auto-growth
events, which can impact performance.

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4. Monitor Growth Events: Regularly monitor auto-growth events and adjust the settings if the database is
growing too frequently or the growth size is too large.

5. Configure Maximum File Sizes: If your storage is limited, configure a maximum file size for data and log
files to prevent SQL Server from consuming all available disk space.

6. Check Disk Space Regularly: Ensure that there is enough disk space for auto-growth events, especially
for log files that can grow rapidly during bulk operations or long-running transactions.

Conclusion

Configuring auto-growth properly in SQL Server ensures smooth database operations and prevents
unexpected growth-related performance issues.

By setting appropriate growth increments (fixed sizes rather than percentages), pre-sizing files, and
regularly monitoring auto-growth events, you can ensure that your SQL Server databases grow efficiently
without negatively impacting performance.

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