Hi,

i always thought that the sql transaction log keeps track of all the transactions done in the database so it could help recovering the database file in case of a unexpected power down or something like that So then, in normal usage, when the data is committed and written to disk, it is cleared because all the data is nice and safe in the mdf file. Seeing the ldf file grow and reading some i understand that that is not the case, and it will keep growing, until: you shrink the log. Only at that point all the commited transactions are cleared and the log file is shrinked. I found some sp's who should do this, but also found the theory that you first have to backup the database? That last step doesn't make sense to me, so can anyone tell me of that is correct and if so, why that is?