As the database administrator of the MS SQL server, you need to ensure that the database is always in a healthy and effective condition. Even though this might seem challenging, this is something that can be achieved with small energy as well as time. When you perform some specific activities regularly, you will be able to ensure the proper condition of the MS SQL database. Just like we humans monitor the condition of their health, you also need to monitor the condition of the database properly. This way you will be able to protect the database from any type of corruption.
However, you need to remember a couple of important tips that will help you a lot. In this article, we will share some great tips that will help you keep the MS SQL server database healthy and in proper condition.
Don’t Try to Shrink the Database Frequently
If you search on the internet, you will find various tutorials as well as articles claiming why and how you need to shrink the MS SQL database. Many users believe in these articles and assume that shrinking the database will help them keep the data items healthy and protected. However, you should know that when you try to shrink the database of the MS SQL server, you will end up boosting the risk of fragmentation. As a result, the overall performance of the MS SQL server database will be affected. Keep in mind that you won’t get extra space by shrinking the MS SQL server database unnecessarily, but you will end up losing more space as well as the essential data items due to defragmentation.
Perform Daily Backups
You might have heard about this point thousands of times. Do you know why backups are extremely important? This is because the backups are the only thing that will help you restore the data items. Despite the importance, many DBA administrators overlook the benefits of backups. When the database of the SQL Server is corrupted, you will be able to restore all the essential data items and sensitive business information if you have a backup. Apart from that, with the help of regular backup features, you will be able to protect the database from various issues such as hardware crashes, software failure, and many more which can lead to data loss. In case of ordinary errors, you will also be able to handle such situations with the help of backups.
Check for the Database Consistency
In cases where the MS SQL database has been corrupted, you will face various complications. Apart from facing different types of incorrect results that can be delivered by the queries or a complete failure while receiving or getting the results, you can also witness different types of extreme situations where the overall MS SQL server can come down. However, you will be able to avoid these situations when you run the SQL queries daily. This is one of the best ways to prevent MS SQL database corruption. You can also choose to automate these different types of queries so that you don’t need to rely on manual functions.
Verify the Backups of the SQL Server Regularly
Keep in mind that taking frequent backup of the MS SQL server database might not prove effective all the time. If you don’t verify the backups regularly, you won’t be able to know whether the backups are intact and in the proper state. This is why you should always pay close attention to the condition of the database backups. This means that you need to ensure that the MS SQL database backups are available as well as reliable. You might face a situation when the backup of the SQL database has been affected by the server breakdown. In such situations, the only thing that is capable of saving you is the previous backup. As per G2, you will be able to protect the data items when you create a backup.
Check the Health of the Server
Apart from checking the health of the MS SQL database, you also need to consider checking the health of the MS SQL database server. This is one of the most important tips you need to know if you want to ensure the proper health condition of the MS SQL database. You might have an MS SQL server database that’s in the best health condition, but do you know what will happen if the server breaks down? To prevent such a situation from affecting the database, you always need to perform daily maintenance of the SQL server. Consider setting a reminder so that you don’t forget to complete this step.
Monitor the Deadlocks
If you think various connections are trying to read the data items simultaneously, then there might come a situation where the MS SQL server will end up killing or blocking the request of multiple users. These users will become victims of deadlocks. Make sure you create an application code to avoid the deadlocks.
Conclusion
These are great tips to keep the MS SQL server healthy. Do you have any other queries? Make sure you contact us to let us know.