SQL Server 2005 Huge DB issue My DB files are growing very fast ( designer is not me and just a weekly report makes 7 GB growth ). And finally, I don't have enough space in the disk. And number of un-reported weeks counting up. 

I have some options to perform but need your recommendations :


Shrink the database ( does shrinking gives the space to OS ? )
Detach and attach DB from an external disk or network storage. ( Is network storage supported by SQL Server 2005 ? )
Change RAID config from 1 to 5 to double the disk size. ( this is safest option but also dangerous of RAID config change. )


Thanks for these great and helpful answers regarding to my question. I have checked the log file and 99% of space is unused. So, I shrunk it. Since the DB is just used when we need some reports ( on time request, not always need to access to db ) I think performance won't be an issue for me.
Shrinking the database will allow for you to give back some space to the O/S, but that space comes at a performance cost as the shrink activity fragments the database. You can fix this by rebuilding your indexes, but that usually causes the space to be reclaimed. And the ides that a shrink would be a solution is false, because you are not addressing the growth issue itself, you are merely trying to put a bandage on a sucking chest wound.

Placing your files on disks that can be expanded easily is your best bet. External storage works well (or a SAN, if possible). You cannot use a UNC path for your database files, but you could use DFS to mount a drive and point to a network location and everything would work fine.

HTH