Planning for File Groups

File groups are a logical containers that Microsoft SQL Server uses to group tables and indexes.

You can create file groups using the tools provided by the database vendor. File group names are case-sensitive and must exactly match the table group or index group you defined when creating database spaces in Database Definition (dbdef) for Lawson data.

Options for Configuring File Groups

Lawson supports three options for configuring file groups:

  • Use a single file group.

    If you don't define file groups in Microsoft SQL Server, the database defaults to one file group called PRIMARY.

  • Create user-defined, unique file groups.

  • Let Microsoft SQL Server define file groups for the data.

File Group Configuration Guidelines for Lawson Data

Application consultants should work with Lawson to determine initial space requirements for file groups. There is a spreadsheet the consultants can fill out to estimate sizes. You usually make many adjustments as you move into production and beyond.

The easiest way to allocate space is to use one large file group for all data. However, performance issues frequently dictate you reduce disk contention by spreading objects out to file groups on multiple disks. Standard practices useful for Lawson data include:

  • Separate indexes from the tables on which they are based.

  • Separate high-use, concurrent-use tables and indexes from each other.

    This is an ongoing process and varies greatly depending on the needs of your data and business processes. Application consultants can to determine which tables and indexes are used most heavily at a site.

Specifying File Groups in the MICROSOFT Database Driver Configuration File

The default MICROSOFT database driver configuration file contains the line:

#FILEGROUPS=FALSE

If you are using only the PRIMARY file group, remove the # to update the database driver configuration file entry to read:

FILEGROUPS=FALSE

See What Is the Lawson Database Driver Configuration File?.