Transaction Log and mirroring - looking for dumbest explanation possible

First of all I must admit that I struggle with concept of Transaction Log. I mean - I do understand that it is Log of all Transactions that happen on database, but when it comes to properly putting it into context within some task I obviously lack something. So, to anyone who will be answering the question - please feel free to expand on theory behind Transaction Log.

Main question is - I have SQL Server 2008 and 2 GB database that I need mirrored (has 12GB transaction log). If I wasn't mirroring that database I presume I could either switch to Simple mode or truncate the log after backup. But in this case - what should I do if I wish to keep that transaction log under control? As I understand - I need to keep that whole transaction log if I wish to be able to easily mirror database (just do Full backup).

Is there any way around this? Ideally I wish it was possible to do backup that keeps both MDF and LDF in 1 file every time and after backup is done Transaction Log (LDF) on database is reduced to 0. The problem with this scenario are incremental backups - if my first backup truncated log, I presume that second backup would need to reference first one if I want to do mirroring later (i.e. I would be stuck with keeping bunch of files instead of just one).

So - can anyone enlighten me on this subject? I understand that I am trying to fill in lots of holes here and that my proposed "solutions" may not be the best ones, but I would sincerely appreciate if somebody can push me in right direction on Transaction Logs, how they impact mirroring and best practices with those two.

The transaction log is a important method to restore your database in a specific time. If you have a large database > 500 GB and if you must restore your database from a full backup, this will cost very much time. Also if you full backup your database everytime, think about how long this backup could take.

A very easy concept for SQL Server can be:
Set Recover Model of your Database Full

Create a Maintenance Plan(1) in SQL Server:

• Do FullBackup every Week maybe in D:\yourbackup\FullDBBackup.bak

• Do Differential Backup every two days in D:\yourbackup\DiffBackup.bak

• Do every 2 houers Backup your Transaction log in D:\Yourbackup\Tranlogbackup.trn

Create a Maintenance Plan(2) in SQL Server:

• Delete all older Files 8 days from D:\yourBackup*.bak

• Delete all older Files 3 Days from D:\yourBackup*.trn

In this case, you are able to recover your Database in a specifc time, very fast very easy.
SQL Server will automaticly manage your "Backup" files, older files will be deleted after your specific time range.

I would suggest that you read about SQL Server Transaction Log here:

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Design+and+Theory/63350/

For using the Maintenance Plans in SQL Server just ask BING / google :D

you should build a small test db and test this before you go in production

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#19624, answer score: 5