Essential SQL Server Concepts - Microsoft Business Intelligence Tools for Excel Analysts - page 164

separate drives. This allows you to better control the performance and administration of your server.
There are four functional areas you need to be concerned with:
➤ Data files: As the name implies, these files store the data loaded in your user tables. The size
of these files depends on the amount of data and type of data you store in your tables. The
larger the number of rows and columns, the larger the files.
➤ Log files: These files are used by SQL Server to guarantee data integrity while SQL Server per-
forms the work necessary when SQL statements are submitted by the users. Their size depends
on the database setup (we discuss this in a later section) and the transactions submitted.
➤ Temp DB: This database is used by SQL Server as a temporary work space for processing user
SQL statements. Its use may be explicit by the user or implicit by the SQL Server optimizer.
The files of this database can be very large on a server with a high level of activity.
➤ Backup files: It is recommended that you back up your SQL Server database on a regular basis
to allow you to recover data in case it becomes corrupted. The size of these files depends on
the databases being backed up, the frequency of backup, and the number of backups saved.
If you're using a server for your installation, your system administrator should configure SQL Server to
automatically point the different files to the appropriate drive when you create a new database.
Otherwise, you have to do that configuration yourself.
Creating a database
To create a new database, right-click the Databases folder in the Object Explorer window and select New
Database. The New Database window opens, allowing you to define the database (see Figure 8-11).
Figure 8-11: New Database window.