SQL Server Maintenance Plan: Complete Description

No doubt, SQL Server is a most capable database especially in terms of storage capacity and performance as well. In fact, it can be used to manage a large amount of stored data, gives a database management system to anyone who requires it and works with it accurately. Moreover, Maintenance plans in SQL Server design to create a workflow of the task required to make sure that users data must be successfully optimized, keep the data backed up regularly and free from consequences. Also, the SQL server renders a maintenance plan which helps to implement appropriate measures to ensure that users database is safe, more flexible and maintained properly. In the following section, we will discuss more information in detail.

SQL Server Maintenance Plan Benefits

The best feature of SQL Server is that maintenance plan can be easily created by a Maintenance Plan Wizard. In SQL Server, the database maintenance plan gives the ability to create and implement one or more jobs that will run under the SQL Server Agent. Maintenance plans must be run manually or automatically at an organized interval. The maintenance plan features are explained below:

• Create Workflow that visualizes a variety of normal maintenance tasks. Users able to generate their own custom Transact-SQL scripts.
• In every plan, users must create or edit the workflow of multiple tasks. Tasks within each plan have been grouped into sub-plans, which must be scheduled at different duration.
• Able to support multi server-plans that can be used inside the master server or target server environments.
• Support to log in the plan history in remote server
• It supports both Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication. If Windows Authentication is available then, likely to use it.

SQL Server Maintenance Plan Performance

Here, maintenance plans can be produced for performing the following activities:

• Compress all the data files by removing the free database pages.
• Check the internal consistency of the data and data pages which present in the database, but make sure that the data can’t be lost due to a system or software issue.
• Need to run multiple jobs under SQL Server Agent. This may be used for creating jobs that execute a variety of actions and implement maintenance plans to run those particular jobs.
• To maintain the backup of the database and transaction log files. Database and log backups have been kept for a particular period. This will help users to create a history of backup if a user wants to restore the previous database so users can perform different backups.
• Reorganize the data on the index and data page by rebuilding the indexes with the new factor. Make sure, the database pages consist an equal amount of data and empty space when start to re-build the indexes with a new fill factor. In future, it will grow faster.
• Surely, update the index statistics to ensure that the query optimizer has current information related to the distribution of data values within the table. The Query optimizer is the better way to access the data because it has more information about storing data in the database. Even, index statistics are updated automatically by the SQL server periodically, this option impacts the statistics to update directly.

Creating Maintenance Plan in SQL Server

Now, describing how to create a single as well as multi-server maintenance plan in SQL Server database by using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL script.

• Using SQL Server Management Studio

Creating a maintenance plan by using Maintenance Plan Wizard

• In Object Explorer, click on plus (+) sign to expand the server from where users want to create a maintenance plan.
• Again, click the plus (+) sign for expending the Management Folder
• Now, right-click on Maintenance Plan folder and then, choose Maintenance Plan Wizard.
• Using Transact-SQL

Creating a maintenance plan using script

• In Object Explorer, connect to an instance of database server Engine.
• Next, from the Standard bar, click on New Query.
• Execute the query.

Conclusion

SQL Server gives a maintenance plan option which helps to implement the database correctly and appropriately. In this article we have discussed the benefits and functionalities related to SQL Server maintenance plan. Also, we have covered how to create maintenance plan in SQL Server using maintenance plan wizard which allows to utilize the enhanced workflow. In the end, we have mentioned the transact SQL script which helps to create a SQL maintenance plan.