The master Database

The master database controls the operation of SAP ASE and stores information about all user databases and their associated database devices.

Information About the master Database Stores
Information	System table
User accounts	`syslogins`
Remote user accounts	`sysremotelogins`
Remote servers that this server can interact with	`sysservers`
Ongoing processes	`sysprocesses`
Configurable environment variables	`sysconfigures`
System error messages	`sysmessages`
Databases on SAP ASE	`sysdatabases`
Storage space allocated to each database	`sysusages`
Tapes and disks mounted on the system	`sysdevices`
Active locks	`syslocks`
Character sets	`syscharsets`
Languages	`syslanguages`
Users who hold server-wide roles	`sysloginroles`
Server roles	`syssrvroles`
SAP ASE engines that are online	`sysengines`

Because the master database stores information about user databases and devices, you must be in the master database to issue the create database, alter database, disk init, disk refit, disk reinit, and disk mirroring commands.

The minimum size of your master database depends on your server's logical page size. The master database must contain at least 6656 logical pages, so its minimum physical size for each logical page size is:

2K page – 13MB
4K page – 26MB
8K page – 52MB
16K page – 104MB