Transaction log

These files hold the log information used to recover the database. There must be at least one transaction log file for each database, although there may be more than one. The minimum size for a log file is 512 kilobytes (KB).Important Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 data and transaction log files must not be placed on compressed file systems or a remote network drive, such as a shared network directory.When a database is created, all the files that comprise the database are filled with zeros to overwrite any existing data left on the disk by previously deleted files. Although this means that the files take longer to create, this action prevents the operating system from having to fill the files with zeros when data is written to the files for the first time during usual database operations. This improves the performance of day-to-day operations.It is recommended that you specify a maximum size to which the file is permitted to grow. This prevents the file from growing, as data is added, until disk space is exhausted. To specify a maximum size for the file, use the MAXSIZE parameter of the CREATE DATABASE statement or the Restrict filegrowth (MB) option when using the Properties dialog box in SQL Server Enterprise Manager to create the database.After you create a database, it is recommended that you create a backup of the master database.