What would you do? C drive on SIMS server is running low.

[TwistedHelixis]

So I have just noticed the C drive on our VM SIMS / Data server is getting low. After removing loads of stuff from other suggestions online I am back up to 12gb, but I dont want to wait for it to go down.

 

I have no idea why or what I was thinking but I seem I have installed SQL onto the C Drive :-(

 

SIMS S Drive and DOCSTORAGE are on the D Drive with the other data shares.

 

The server is a VM runing on a Hyper-V host

 

The C & D drives are just partions of the same drive, which I belive makes adding additional space to the C drive a problem.

 

The C Drive has 100gb but has 12gb of space (perhaps there is more I could delete).

The D drive has 250GB and has 200GB free.

 

Below are my ideas, but I would love alternatives or recomendations as to what you would do.

 

 

• Create a new F drive. Move all D drive files onto it. delete D drive partition, expand C drive, re create D drive and move files back from F
  
• 
  
• Find some special partition software that can move space from the D Drive to the C Drive.
  
• 
  
• Setup a new server, install and migrate everything.
  
• 
  
• Uninstall SQL, and possibly SIMS, FMS, re install on D Drive. - To me this seem to be the worst option.
  

[Jamman960]

I’d expect there is more you can delete, the solus database is probably taking up a good amount.

 

I’d run tree size and figure out what’s eating the space, you can dismount the databases, move them to another location and re-mount, it might be worth doing this with the solus database. I’ve not had to look into it but I would have thought there’s a way to slim down the solus db as most of its contents will be irrelevant if you’re up to date already.

[Steve21]

I have no idea why or what I was thinking but I seem I have installed SQL onto the C Drive :-(

 

If you installed SQL on C it'd be worth checking if you have any old backups in the SQL folder from Solus updates etc, as unless you tick it to delete backups when updating it'll keep them forever in that folder, so that could be multiple copies of your database and a quick win

 

It'd be something along the lines of C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL13.SIMS2016\MSSQL\Backup depending on SQL versions etc

 

Steve

[psydii]

In increasing difficulty:

 

Stop start sql server to shrink tempdb (consider also setting an appropriate minimum size to avoid unnecessary performance hits each time it grows, https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/6493/sql-server-tempdb-tutorial/)

 

Shrink the transaction logs https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertutorial/3311/how-to-shrink-the-transaction-log/

 

Move the database files to D. https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/6689/sql-server-move-database-files/

Edited July 14, 2021 by psydii

[Bedders]

Steve's suggestion of checking backups (maybe using WizTree or TreeSizeFree) would be my first call. Old backups of databases are typically the same size as the original so this might free up a lot of space.

Page File would be something I'd also look at, as SQL servers can be memory hogs and you probably don't want it paging to disk. I can't recall the SIMS guidance on it specifically. More information from a quick Google search https://serverfault.com/questions/990091/sql-server-page-file-location-where-to-put-it with additional links.

Your transaction log should ideally be getting cleared and shrunk by your backup software after the transactions are committed. If not you may want to investigate.

[TwistedHelixis]

If you installed SQL on C it'd be worth checking if you have any old backups in the SQL folder

I had already deleted the SQL backups, which did get back a lot of GBs but not enough.

 

age File would be something I'd also look at

Will do, thanks

 

you can dismount the databases, move them to another location and re-mount, it might be worth doing this with the solus database.

Shrink the transaction logs https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservert...ansaction-log/Move the database files to D. https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservert...atabase-files/

 

This is something I had not even thought of, thanks I'll take a look.

 

I have just run TreeSizeFree and taken the following screen shots. Can I delete any of these files?

 

 

 

 

 

[chazzy2501]

can't you shrink the d partition and expand the c partition?

[TwistedHelixis]

can't you shrink the d partition and expand the c partition?

 

I believe you can only expand into free space to the right of a partion, so only my D drive can expand into any free space, not the C Drive. This is why I mentioned 'Create a new F drive. Move all D drive files onto it. delete D drive partition, expand C drive, re create D drive and move files back from F'

[TwistedHelixis]

I was also just reading something online named - 'Stop Shrinking Your Database Files. Seriously. Now'. So I don't think I'll be doing this

[round2it]

i have a tool that can shrink the db and transaction logs etc from capita pm me if you need a copy, use at own risk but is a capita piece of software, it saved me lots of space.

it also sorts out the huge solus 3 db

 

check the backups folder in the sql folder in program files

move swap disk to the d drive (will need reboot)

Edited July 14, 2021 by round2it

[psydii]

solus ldf is the sql database logfile - this is huge. a full db backup followed by a shrink should sort that out.

 

SQL Server bootstrap cache - I have no idea.

 

WinSxS - Never touch this ever - It's the magic that prevents DLL hell.

 

Installer - Never touch this ever. It breaks uninstall and application repair capabilities

 

$patcache$ - Not sure what this is? (I might go look it up in a minute) But I would leave well alone.

 

SOLUS Logs - If they are straight-up text files, they can probably be pruned - check solus documentation.

 

The ldf is where you can get the biggest win.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/logs/manage-the-size-of-the-transaction-log-file?view=sql-server-ver15

 

Rough rule of thumb in my experience with SIMS, if the transaction log is more than twice the size of the database then there is something not quite right (perhaps with you backups, perhaps with routines that are running)

 

edit: there is no sign of the solus database in that screen shot... where is it?

Edited July 14, 2021 by psydii

[Boredguy]

I had already deleted the SQL backups, which did get back a lot of GBs but not enough.

 

I have just run TreeSizeFree and taken the following screen shots. Can I delete any of these files?

You really can do with a shrinking of the Solus 3 Deployment DB, as it should not be that large.

 

It might still be set to full recovery mode for that DB instead of Simple.

You can either select to shrink the DB yourself via the SQL Management Tool, or your SIMS EES support company should have a script to do that

[chazzy2501]

its a VM cant you just allocate it more c drive, then extend?

[TwistedHelixis]

there is no sign of the solus database in that screen shot... where is it?

is this what you are after?

 

 

It might still be set to full recovery mode for that DB instead of Simple.

i have just checked and yes it is set to full. Can I just change it to Simple or not?

 

EDIT - SIMS database is set to SIMPLE its the SOLUS one that is set to FULL

[Chaniel]

You said it's a VM - I'd just expand the disk.

 

Turn the VM off, go into settings, edit the disk > expand > add X amount of GB to size.

Turn VM on, login, go to Disk Management, right click your C: drive and Extend Volume

 

Sorted.

[psydii]

is this what you are after?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]62595[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

i have just checked and yes it is set to full. Can I just change it to Simple or not?

 

EDIT - SIMS database is set to SIMPLE its the SOLUS one that is set to FULL

 

Yes that is it. You definitely need to shrink the log file, set the recovery mode to simple, and limit its size 1Gb should be more than plenty.

[TwistedHelixis]

You said it's a VM - I'd just expand the disk.Turn the VM off, go into settings, edit the disk > expand > add X amount of GB to size.Turn VM on, login, go to Disk Management, right click your C: drive and Extend VolumeSorted.

 

I will give this a go over the weekend, but from my reading up as we have a C & D drive as partiions on the same drive (not seperate drives), any spare space I allocate can only get re allocated to the D Drive.

 

EDIT - Is this not the case?

[TwistedHelixis]

Yes that is it. You definitely need to shrink the log file, set the recovery mode to simple, and limit its size 1Gb should be more than plenty.

 

I have just fired off an email to my LA requesting their steps to shrink the Solus3 transaction log file. Just in case they need me to do something differently to the norm.

[Chaniel]

I will give this a go over the weekend, but from my reading up as we have a C & D drive as partiions on the same drive (not seperate drives), any spare space I allocate can only get re allocated to the D Drive.

 

EDIT - Is this not the case?

 

I think in the case of a basic disk, you're right. If the C drive is the 1st partition on the disk and the the D drive is the 2nd partition, you wouldn't be able to extend the C drive.

 

In this case, I would add a new virtual disk, copy the contents of the D drive (We'll call this D-Old) using robocopy (or Veeam) to this new partition (We'll call this D-New) , switch drive letters about, ensure it all works and nothing is broken.

 

You'd then have two virtual disks, one being your original with your C drive and D-Old, and one being a new disk with D-New. You could then delete the D-Old volume and just extend the C drive.

 

ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE

Convert the disk to a dynamic disk, you can then just extend the C Drive with no issue. NOTE - dynamic disks aren't supported by Veeam at all.

[TwistedHelixis]

I think in the case of a basic disk, you're right. If the C drive is the 1st partition on the disk and the the D drive is the 2nd partition, you wouldn't be able to extend the C drive.

 

In this case, I would add a new virtual disk, copy the contents of the D drive (We'll call this D-Old) using robocopy (or Veeam) to this new partition (We'll call this D-New) , switch drive letters about, ensure it all works and nothing is broken.

 

You'd then have two virtual disks, one being your original with your C drive and D-Old, and one being a new disk with D-New. You could then delete the D-Old volume and just extend the C drive.

 

 

Yep, if I cant get back enough disk space this will be my next fix

[clareq]

I would be endeavouring to move to two virtual disks, one with C and one with D. That will mean you will never have this problem again.

[TwistedHelixis]

I would be endeavouring to move to two virtual disks, one with C and one with D. That will mean you will never have this problem again.

 

Agreed. I am now thinking I might just go all in and build a new server with server 2019 OS, as the old one is 2012r2 and it will need doing at some point soon anyway.

[chaplic]

Moving the SQL databases to a different disk is pretty straightforward thing to do?

[mdrabble]

Agreed. I am now thinking I might just go all in and build a new server with server 2019 OS, as the old one is 2012r2 and it will need doing at some point soon anyway.

 

Let me know how you get on moving everything to a new server.

 

This was going to a done in the next 2-3 weeks but I’ve put off now until a later date.

 

Been asking Capita/ESS for support documents and all I get pointed to is their SQL migration area - which is great as the migration tool does migrate the database but nothing else.

 

When I asked about Sims.net they sent me a link to 2013 iso image! And then told me to use solus.

[round2it]

did you manage to take a look at the tool i sent you