Month: January 2013

Best Practices + Table Partitioning: Merging Boundary Points

Last Updated February 13, 2017

One of the many best practices for SQL Server’s table partitioning feature is to create “extra” empty partitions around your data. This is explained in SQL Server Books Online in the page on altering a Partition Function: Always keep empty partitions at both ends of the partition range to guarantee that the partition split (before…

The Okapis of SQL Server Indexes

Last Updated February 2, 2013

Jes Schultz

SQL Server

They are elusive and hard to spot in the wild, but they exist: rare index options that can enhance the performance of your queries. If you have a solid knowledge of index basics and want to add to your collection, this is the session for you! In this 30-minute video, Jes will show you how…

SQL Server Table Partitioning Tutorial: Videos and Scripts

Last Updated December 29, 2021

Kendra Little

Partitioning, SQL Server, Videos

There’s a secret to learning about SQL Server’s table partitioning feature: you need to get your hands on some code and really play with it in a test environment. In this tutorial, Kendra will walk you through test scripts that set up a sample table partitioning environment. These scripts demonstrate gotchas to look out for…

When a Query Isn’t Quite a Query

Last Updated January 16, 2013

Jeremiah Peschka

SQL Server

Databases exist to store data and answer questions about that data. The way we ask questions has to change based on the database itself – SQL changes between different RDBMS vendors. Things get even stranger when you venture outside the RDBMS world and start storing your data in Hive. Even though Hive Query Language (HiveQL)…

Choosing the Right SQL Server Version: It’s Trickier than You’d Think

Last Updated February 16, 2013

Kendra Little

SQL Server

It’s finally time– you’ve been given the thumbs up to upgrade to SQL Server 2012. You’ve selected your SQL Server Edition and worked out your licensing agreement. You’ve sized new hardware in production and sketched out your migration plan. You’re ready to install developer edition in the test environment. You grab your installation media and……

VMware HA is Not Database Server High Availability

Last Updated April 8, 2017

Brent Ozar

Clustering, SQL Server, Virtualization

I served with High Availability. I knew High Availability. High Availability was a friend of mine. VMware HA, you’re no High Availability. See, for us database administrators, high availability means protection when: The system drive fills up because some potato decided to download a bunch of files An operating system or database server update goes…

Big Changes for Big Virtual Machines in VMware vSphere 5

Last Updated June 17, 2013

Brent Ozar

SQL Server, Virtualization

Even if your SQL Server is the only guest on a host, it still might not be as fast as bare metal. One of the reasons is NUMA, which stands for Not Ur Momma’s Architecture. Okay, no, smart reader, you caught me – it actually stands for Non-Uniform Memory Access. In your momma’s architecture (Symmetric…

Video: Documentation – It Doesn’t Suck!

Last Updated January 15, 2013

Jes Schultz

SQL Server, Videos

Without documentation, you could probably do your taxes, build a new piece of “some assembly required” furniture, or manage a database instance – but you’d probably end up living in prison, living with broken furniture, or living in fear of your servers. Writing documentation might not seem as important or exciting as developing or tuning…

Documentation: It Doesn’t Suck!

Last Updated January 16, 2013

Jes Schultz

SQL Server

Some parts of our jobs are not glamorous, but necessary. For example, I have to brush Brent’s Bob Dylan wig weekly, to make sure it’s shiny and perfect. Documentation is a task many people roll their eyes at, procrastinate about starting, have a hard time keeping up-to-date, and in general avoid. Stop avoiding it, and…

Developers: Help Us Pick Cities for 2013 Training

Last Updated February 19, 2013

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

You’re a developer stuck managing a database server that you don’t feel comfortable with. You’ve got no formal database training, but over a couple years of work, you’ve taught yourself how to design databases and write queries. You want to improve the performance and reliability of your SQL Server, diagnose problems with your T-SQL and…

Does Your SQL Server Need Critical Care®?

Last Updated January 8, 2013

Brent Ozar

SQL Server, Videos

Overwhelmed with problems on your SQL Servers? Maybe it’s time you stopped playing around with bandages and got some Critical Care®. In this 30-minute video, we’ll introduce our Critical Care® process, explain what we look for, and show you how to explain it to your manager. Let’s make your SQL Server faster and more reliable…

The Brent Ozar Unlimited® 2013 Company Retreat

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Brent Ozar

Company News

Our day jobs involve quickly fixing some of the toughest technical (and political) challenges that have stymied companies for months. We’re under very high pressure to produce amazing results quickly, and we pride ourselves on knocking it out of the park every time. And forget the client gigs – keeping any small business running is…

Implementing Snapshot or Read Committed Snapshot Isolation in SQL Server: A Guide

Last Updated September 26, 2022

Kendra Little

Locking, Blocking, and Isolation Levels, SQL Server

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How to change isolation levels without losing your marbles. A client said the coolest thing to me the other day. He said, “We talked before about why we would want to start using optimistic locking in our code. How do we get there?” If you’re not a SQL Server geek, that comment probably doesn’t even…

How We Write

Last Updated March 27, 2014

Brent Ozar

Writing and Presenting

The four of us were talking about the writing tricks we use, and we thought you might enjoy hearing our styles. How Brent Writes I use RememberTheMilk.com to track my blog post ideas. I can use it from anywhere via a web browser, phone app, whatever. I can tell when I’m in the mood to…