Deleting large site collection with size 100GB using gradual delete option

Question

we have a SharePoint site collection with size of 100GB. We wanted to delete the site permanently and need to use the same site url.

Recommended option is to use gradual delete option in Remove-SPSite cmdlet, to reduce the performance impact on SQL server.

I need to use the same site url immediately without waiting for SharePoint Gradual delete timer job to delete data in a scheduled manner (upto 30 days) , so planning to run the timer job 'Gradual delete' manually .

My question is, will this manual run of 'Gradual Delete' timer job causes the same sql performance impact as like running 'Remove-SPSite' operation without gradual delete option.

If we have the same performance impact on SQL, how can we approach for this large site deletion ?

Answer 1

It is safe to run the gradual delete timer job manually. The function of the job is delete the data from content db without hurting server performance.

Actually when you run remove-spsite then it did not delete site rather delete all connections to the url and put the data in sitedelete table of content db. When you run gradual delete then it remove data from sitedelete table( 1000 rows at a time, I think). Please read this for more details: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/wbaer/2010/08/02/gradual-site-delete-in-sharepoint-2010/

I would make sure before running gradual delete that site not in central admin bin....by running get-spdeletedsite command.

Lastly, I would recommend put each site collection into own content database as they are too big, it will be help you in managing and troubleshooting and maintenance.