I`ve got a 50 Gb database, in which a table takes up 43 GB, and it's full of bad data(over 90%), and i plan to clean it. Database is in Full recovery mode.
My plan is:
0 - take a backup for safety reasons
1 - put database in simple recovery mode
2 - remove 90% of bad data from that table (use batches so that log file doesn't grow)
3 - shrink the data file to an acceptable size, so estimated data for next 1-2 years wont cause any file growth (ofc i will need to rebuild all indexes)
4 - put database back Full recovery mode
5 - take a full backup of the database, so the log backup chain is restored from this point on
Now, my question is a bit strange, but, am I doing anything wrong ? especially by switching database from full -> simple, then simple -> full ? Am I missing anything important from this plan ? Is this the best approach to my problem ?
I hope i gave all needed details, and my questions are not too vague. Thanks.