Is the growth of a SqlServer database an intensive operation?

Question

Hi,

we have a Sql 2005 database and we have set the growth of the data file to autogrowth, 'By 1 MB'

We see that it does that approx every 10 minutes (its 9 GB now).

Is it as simple as: just put it to 10 or 100, or are there other things to consider, or can we just leave it at this because it's just an easy operation?

Answer 1

Yes, it can be. The speed of your disk subsystem is a factor, but 1MB is a little small. Perhaps 50 - 100MB would be better.

Pre-sizing your data and log files expected size under normal operating conditions is a common DBA task.

Answer 2

It IS expensive compared to other things. it is not so much 1mb every 10 minutes for 1mb.

That said, put the file up to a defined size and dont autogrow it - my advice.