DBCC SHRINKDATABASE Question

We need to shrink one of our production databases - SQL Server 2000,
service pack 4. The size of the database is currently 26GB in size,
with about 40-50% free space.
We have concerns about the performance impact of running the DBCC
SHRINKDATABASE statement.
I would like to hear other people's experience with running this
command.
My understanding is that it will NOT take the database offline, that
is, users can still query the database - but is it going to create a
serious performance problem?
Also, approximately how long would a shrink of this size take?
In addition to these questions, I need general recommendations about
shrinking the database, caveats, etc.
Thank you!!
See:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;272318 --not sure if
this is data or log file
and
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/info_dont_shrink.asp
PS - You cannot shink a db smaller than it's orriginal creation size using
DBCC SHRINKDATABASE - must use DBCC SHRINKFILE.
HTH
Jerry
<tootsuite@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1129658373.884310.50430@.g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> We need to shrink one of our production databases - SQL Server 2000,
> service pack 4. The size of the database is currently 26GB in size,
> with about 40-50% free space.
> We have concerns about the performance impact of running the DBCC
> SHRINKDATABASE statement.
> I would like to hear other people's experience with running this
> command.
> My understanding is that it will NOT take the database offline, that
> is, users can still query the database - but is it going to create a
> serious performance problem?
> Also, approximately how long would a shrink of this size take?
> In addition to these questions, I need general recommendations about
> shrinking the database, caveats, etc.
> Thank you!!
>