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Thanks for the reply! &nbsp;Any guesstimate how long a database of this size would take?
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It can vary a lot depending on your hardware, the degree of fragmentation, the number of other dbs on the instance, contention for IO on the storage.<br />
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I think I recall a similar shrink (30GB to 10GB) taking about 20-30 minutes last time I did it, but it really does depend on a lot of external factors.
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Thanks guys - I will give it a go and get back to you all. &nbsp;Appreciate the replies.
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I have a SQL Server database that had a binary field that stored photos used in profiles and articles. &nbsp;We've moved this to the filesystem rather than storing them in the DB and now the database queries are faster. &nbsp;The size of the database didn't change (it's roughly 30GB). &nbsp;I think almost all of that space isn't needed anymore and the DB may be 10GB without the photos. &nbsp;Should I compact / shrink the db? &nbsp;I heard this isn't good to do but in this case, maybe it is. &nbsp;I won't be storing the photos in the DB going forward either so not sure if it will ever reach that size again.
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I have a SQL Server database that had a binary field that stored photos used in profiles and articles.  We've moved this to the filesystem rather than storing them in the DB and now the database queries are faster.  The size of the database didn't change (it's roughly 30GB).  I think almost all of that space isn't needed anymore and the DB may be 10GB without the photos.  Should I compact / shrink the db?  I heard this isn't good to do but in this case, maybe it is.  I won't be storing the photos in the DB going forward either so not sure if it will ever reach that size again.

Shrink / Compact SQL Server 2008 DB after removing photos that were stored

Microsoft SQL Server is a suite of relational database management system (RDBMS) products providing multi-user database access functionality.SQL Server is available in multiple versions, typically identified by release year, and versions are subdivided into editions to distinguish between product functionality. Component services include integration (SSIS), reporting (SSRS), analysis (SSAS), data quality, master data, T-SQL and performance tuning.

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is a suite of relational database management system (RDBMS) products providing multi-user database access functionality.Component services include integration (SSIS), reporting (SSRS), analysis (SSAS), data quality, master data, T-SQL and performance tuning. Major improvements include the  Always On technologies and support for unstructured data types.