Re: [NTISP] Moving SQL .dat files

Josh Hillman ( (no email) )
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 10:44:46 -0500

>Josh Hillman wrote:
>>
>> Is it possible to relocate/move the .dat files associated with a SQL
>> device/database? I just realized that one of our databases is sitting in
>> the root of C on the machine and it belongs in S. How can I move the
..dat
>> files and have MSSQL Server (6.5 SP4) be aware of it?

From: Dale E. Reed Jr. <daler@iea-software.com>
>I'm not sure. You could do a dump of the DB, drop the DB and devices,
>delete the old files, re-create the new devices and db, then restore
>the DB. Not pretty, but would work.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but won't the following also
work?:
Stop SQL Server.
Copy the appropriate .dat files from C: to a temporary location.
Start SQL Server.
Delete the database and device.
Create a new device and datbase with the same info, except
for the physical location (changing it to S:)
Stop SQL Server.
Replace the newly created .dat files in S: with the original
.dat files.
Start SQL Server.

2 years ago, our Emerald datbase got corrupted and I had to restore the
actual .dat files off of tape (the diskdump restores didn't work; forget
why). Obviously, the only way to get those .dat files on tape to begin with
was by shutting off SQL for a few minutes, while making copies of the .dat
files so that they'd be picked up in the tape-backup since the real ones are
always in use. Replacing the .dat files worked (although obviously, some
data had to be re-entered because of the timing). The difference here was
that the Emerald.dat file was restored to the same location that it was to
begin with.

Josh Hillman
hillman@talstar.com

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