There are two things you can do to drastically reduce the size of files related to SQL Server on Virtual Machines (or your own computer).
- After you back up a database, go into the backup folder and zip up the backup file and delete the original backup. This will reduce the file size by up to 90%, and some of those files are huge.
- Sometimes the transaction log file size can get out of control. Follow the steps outlined on this link to shrink them.
Also, when you create a SQL instance, consider whether you need full back up (generally the default setting). Setting the instance to a simple recovery model might be all you need and will save on resources. https://docs.