Posts by Brent Ozar

Brent Ozar

2119 posts

https://www.brentozar.com

I make Microsoft SQL Server go faster. I love teaching, travel, cars, and laughing. I'm based out of Las Vegas. He/him.

I’m Speaking at the PASS Data Community Summit This Year!

Last Updated May 15, 2022

Brent Ozar

#SQLPass

For years, the biggest conference in the Microsoft data platform community has been the PASS Summit. This November 15-18, it’s coming back to the Seattle Convention Center. You can attend in person, or virtually. I’m going to be there in person. It’s not a decision I take lightly – I still get nervous when I…

The 6-Year-Old T-SQL Book That Never Goes Out of Style

Last Updated May 7, 2022

Brent Ozar

T-SQL

You’ve been working with Microsoft SQL Server for yeeears, and you’re pretty confident that you know how to write a query. So when I tell you about a book called T-SQL Fundamentals, you’re all, “nah, man, I got this covered.” You are incorrect. Sure, the first 5 chapters of the book are about 1-2 table…

Office Hours Speed Round: Text Edition

Last Updated May 8, 2022

Brent Ozar

Production Database Administration

I recorded an Office Hours stream answering a bunch of your questions quickly, but…I forgot to turn on my microphone, so the video only had the sound effects: Oops. So here are the questions in text form instead: Q: 22DBA: what performance recommendation you see people give all the time but it actually doesn’t work…

Don’t Treat SQL Like a Programming or Scripting Language.

Last Updated May 10, 2022

Brent Ozar

T-SQL

In a programming language like C# or Java, you tell the computer what to do, in order. Get the customers from California, then get their invoices, then sum the total. SQL, on the other hand, is a declarative language where you declare the shape of your result set: Get the total sales from Californian customers.…

The Top Feature Requests for SQL Server

Last Updated May 5, 2022

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

If you want to get a look at where Microsoft SQL Server is heading in the future, it helps to get an idea of what users are repeatedly asking for. Here’s a quick rundown of the top requests from feedback.azure.com as voted by the people who cared enough to log in and upvote ’em: 10:…

“Index Seek” Doesn’t Mean Much.

Last Updated May 4, 2022

Brent Ozar

Execution Plans

When you see “index seek” on an execution plan, that doesn’t mean SQL Server is jumping to exactly the row you’re looking for. It only means that SQL Server is seeking on the first column of the index. This is especially misleading on indexes where the first column isn’t very selective. To explain, I’ll take…

Who’s Hiring in the Database Community? May 2022 Edition

Last Updated May 2, 2022

Brent Ozar

Who's Hiring

Is your company hiring for a database position as of May 2022? Do you wanna work with the kinds of people who read this blog? Let’s set up some rapid networking here. If your company is hiring, leave a comment. The rules: Your comment must include the job title, and either a link to the full…

Office Hours, Text Edition: No-Brainer Questions

Last Updated April 26, 2022

Brent Ozar

Production Database Administration

For my Office Hours streams on my Twitch channel, y’all post questions at PollGab and upvote the ones you’d like to see me discuss on the stream. However, not all questions require a video answer. Here are some simple no-brainer ones: Q: BehindTheScenesDBA: With all its limitations, what do you think about memory-optimized tables? Have you…

[Video] Office Hours: New Las Vegas Home Office Edition

Last Updated April 25, 2022

Brent Ozar

Videos

It’s the first webcast I’ve done from my new Vegas pad. You posted questions at https://pollgab.com/room/brento/ and I discussed the highest-upvoted ones: 00:00 Introductions 02:15 Jim D: Should I use full backups or log shipping for migrations? 03:53 Sev A: What are the top misuses of SQL Server that are better accomplished without SQL Server?…

What DBAs Need to Know About Snapshots

Last Updated April 21, 2022

Brent Ozar

Storage

Snapshots by Polaroid? That’s not right. You’re a DBA responsible for making sure SQL Server databases are online, backed up, corruption-free, and fast. Your databases have gradually grown in size over time, and you’re starting to hit new size issues you haven’t encountered before. Nightly maintenance windows are getting smaller, you’re not able to refresh…

[Video] Office Hours: Last San Diego Balcony Edition

Last Updated April 11, 2022

Brent Ozar

Videos

It’s the last San Diego balcony edition of Office Hours! You posted your questions at https://pollgab.com/room/brento and upvoted the ones you’d like to see. Here’s what we covered this week: 00:00 Introductions 00:50 Steve E: Hi Brent, How are you enjoying the Porsche 944? 01:55 Midwest DBA: Hey Brent, The wife says my DBA oncall…

What Do the LCK_M_SCH_M and LCK_M_IS Wait Types Indicate?

Last Updated April 9, 2022

Brent Ozar

Locking, Blocking, and Isolation Levels, Wait Stats

You’re investigating your SQL Server’s top wait stats, and you’re noticing a lot of LCK% waits. Normally, that indicates blocking and deadlocks, but you’re just not getting complaints from your end users, and you’re wondering what’s causing it. It might be overzealous index rebuilds. Let’s demo why by starting a new query in the Stack…

Updated First Responder Kit and Consultant Toolkit for April 2022

Last Updated April 8, 2022

Brent Ozar

First Responder Kit Updates

Wow, talk about stable! The last 3 months have only introduced a series of small bug fixes. I held this release back as long as I could, waiting to see if anything major might get added or if we might get a SQL Server 2022 CTP, but no dice. If there was ever a First…

[Video] Office Hours Speed Round: SQL Server Q&A

Last Updated April 4, 2022

Brent Ozar

Videos

You posted questions at https://pollgab.com/room/brento and I picked the fastest ones to answer: Here’s what we covered: 00:00 Introductions 00:16 Disgruntled App Developer: Hi Brent a friend was recently reprimanded for running a trace in production. The rationale was perf impact and other ‘potential issues’ that weren’t forthcoming. Any thoughts on why traces have an…

Who’s Hiring in the Database Community? April 2022 Edition

Last Updated May 2, 2022

Brent Ozar

Who's Hiring

Is your company hiring for a database position as of April 2022? Do you wanna work with the kinds of people who read this blog? Let’s set up some rapid networking here. If your company is hiring, leave a comment. The rules: Your comment must include the job title, and either a link to the full…

Get 25% Off Training – This Week Only!

Last Updated April 1, 2022

Brent Ozar

Company News

I did huge price cuts this month across the board. My individual Mastering class recordings used to be $995. Now it’s just $395 for Mastering Index Tuning, Mastering Query Tuning, Mastering Parameter Sniffing, or Mastering Server Tuning. The Recorded Class Season Pass: Mastering used to be $2,395 for all of my Masters classes. Now it’s…

[Video] Office Hours: San Diego Office Edition

Last Updated March 24, 2022

Brent Ozar

Videos

I’m back in the US at my home studio in San Diego, so I did a live Office Hours session. Post your questions at https://pollgab.com/room/brento and upvote the ones you’d like to see me cover. Here’s what we covered today: 00:00 Introductions 00:41 WTF_SQLServer!?!: I have a some dbs that take nearly 6 hours each…

[Video] Office Hours: Ask Me Anything at Sunset on the Balcony

Last Updated March 21, 2022

Brent Ozar

Videos

Ah, sunset – time to kick back on the balcony, watch the ocean, and discuss SQL Server. You post questions at https://pollgab.com/room/brento/, upvote the ones you’d like to see me answer, and I discuss ’em: 00:00 Introductions 00:30 iAmGroot: Hello Brent, my friend has a VLDB and he’s asking what is a good strategy to…

Wanna Speak at the PASS Summit This Year? Move Fast.

Last Updated March 21, 2022

Brent Ozar

#SQLPass

The PASS Summit is November 15-18 in Seattle this year. This time around, it’s a hybrid conference, with both speakers and attendees in a mix between in-person and remote. I’m really excited to get back to in-person events. I recently attended SQLBits in London, and I actually got emotional at the sight of so many…

SQLDay Poland Workshop: How I Use the First Responder Kit

Last Updated March 18, 2022

Brent Ozar

Conferences and Classes

Watch and learn I’m presenting remotely at the upcoming SQLDay Poland on 9-11 May! I’m teaching a one-day workshop, How I Use the First Responder Kit. You’ve downloaded sp_Blitz, sp_BlitzIndex, and sp_BlitzCache from the First Responder Kit, and you’ve run them a few times. You know there’s a ton of advice in there, but…it’s kinda…

Posts by Brent Ozar

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