Scheduled reboot of SQL Server on Windows 2000

I am descerning whether it is a good idea (or necessary) to reboot our SQL
Server 2000 servers on a regular basis (E.g., monthly or quarterly). Are
there any performance benefits in doing this? Does this help to defragment
memory?There's no real benefit. However, you will likely incur a performance
penalty each time, since it will have to repopulate the data cache.
Tom
---
Thomas A. Moreau, BSc, PhD, MCSE, MCDBA
SQL Server MVP
Columnist, SQL Server Professional
Toronto, ON Canada
www.pinnaclepublishing.com/sql
"Cajun" <Cajun@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FECF4E55-A44B-42CE-86E0-9D0915BD6490@.microsoft.com...
I am descerning whether it is a good idea (or necessary) to reboot our SQL
Server 2000 servers on a regular basis (E.g., monthly or quarterly). Are
there any performance benefits in doing this? Does this help to defragment
memory?|||Hi -
Experts says :-
"This is a fairly common question, and the answer is fairly straight
forward, no. Assuming you are using Windows NT Server 4.0 SP6a, or Windows
2000 Server SP4, or Windows 2003 Server, and are running SQL Server 7.0 or
2000 (any service packs), there is no reason to automatically reboot your
server. Doing so will not offer you any performance benefits or enhance
reliability.
There is a common myth among many IS people that Windows Server software
needs to be rebooted regularly for it to work efficiently. There may have
been a grain of truth to this in previous versions of Windows NT Server
(before 4.0), but since 4.0, there has not been any need to reboot Windows
Server on a regular basis.
I have seen many, many Windows servers that are virtually never rebooted,
and they never have any problems due to the OS.
On the other hand, I have seen poorly written applications written for
Windows Server that have memory leaks that have force the need to reboot the
server on a regular basis. But this problem is the fault of the application,
not the OS. It is very possible that less knowledgeable IS staff in general
have improperly diagnosed the cause of a server's problem and blamed it on
the OS, and not the application as they should, which is perpetuating this
myth.
Since your SQL Server is not having any problems, leave it alone, and tell
the other people on your staff to stop listening to urban legends."
"Cajun" wrote:

> I am descerning whether it is a good idea (or necessary) to reboot our SQL
> Server 2000 servers on a regular basis (E.g., monthly or quarterly). Are
> there any performance benefits in doing this? Does this help to defragmen
t
> memory?sql