We get a fair number of questions from SQL Backup Master users about transaction log files, often accompanied by concerns regarding truncation and\/or shrinking of log files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We’ll start with the summary. It isn’t necessary to manually truncate<\/em> SQL Server transaction log files. However, there may be an occasional need to manually shrink<\/em> them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ll talk about log truncation first. Truncation is a process that frees up space in the log file for reuse. It will occur automatically at regular checkpoints if your SQL Server database is using the simple recovery model<\/a>. If the database uses the full or bulk-logged recovery model<\/a>, truncation occurs automatically after each log backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which recovery model your database should<\/em> use depends on whether your recovery plan includes a requirement for point-in-time recovery. If not, then use the simple<\/strong> recovery model. Otherwise, SQL Server needs to use the full or bulk-logged<\/strong> recovery model and transaction log backups become a requirement<\/em> (otherwise they will not truncate and will continually grow the log file).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note<\/strong>: The default recovery model for SQL Server depends on the product edition. SQL Server Express defaults the recovery model to SIMPLE, <\/em>\nwhile most other editions default to FULL.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n