Posts by Doug Lane

Doug Lane

21 posts

When I’m not shooting videos in stunning 70mm Panavision (TM) for Brent Ozar Unlimited, I’m out running or having lightsaber duels with my two marvelous children. You may also spot me in my natural habitat: SQL Server User Group meetings, SQL Saturdays, or the PASS Summit.

What’s the Greatest Compliment You Ever Received?

Last Updated February 14, 2017

Doug Lane

Professional Development, SQL Server

It takes as little as one word. One word from a co-worker, blog commenter, or Stack Overflow user can make you feel like a champ. (Or a chump, depending on the word.) (Let’s focus on feeling like a champ.) What’s the greatest compliment you ever received about your professional work? Did someone compliment your tenacity, your calm under…

Should I Worry About Index Fragmentation?

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Doug Lane

Index Maintenance, SQL Server

Here’s a handy flowchart for whenever you find yourself worrying about fragmentation: *Talk to your doctor about whether fragmentation is a problem for you. Seek help for index maintenance lasting longer than four hours. Serious side effects may occur if all index maintenance is ignored completely. Brent says: pop quiz: what are you doing more…

We Are Ready For Risk-Taking Presenters

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Doug Lane

#SQLPass, SQL Server, Writing and Presenting

June 2, 2011. I woke up around 5:00 AM, got dressed, left my cruise ship cabin and went downstairs to find a place to write about the dream I’d just had: A database murdered. Suspects isolated together on a ship. Technical sleuthing. I knew immediately this was a presentation I needed to give. It would be a…

The Five Stages of Dynamic SQL Grief

Last Updated April 3, 2019

Doug Lane

Development

Dynamic SQL can be an incredibly powerful tool in the pocket of a SQL Server developer. Developers frequently express amazement at the level of flexibility dynamic SQL offers, an astonishment at how quickly things get out of hand, and finally the humbling realization that such machinery nearly tore their limbs off. This process can be…

Announcing: Level Up Your T-SQL

Last Updated April 9, 2017

Doug Lane

SQL Server

You spend at least an hour or two each day writing T-SQL code. You have a pretty good hunch that it’s not as fast or crisp as it should be, and you wonder if you’re missing a few techniques. You’ve heard about date tables and windowing functions, but you’re just not comfortable with ’em yet.…

“Dear $firstname”: Tell Us Your Recruiter Stories

Last Updated July 30, 2015

Doug Lane

SQL Server

There are two kinds of recruiters. The first kind is the Relationship Recruiter. These are the great ones. These recruiters take time to listen, not just to you but to their clients. They try their best to match you and your skills with a client and their needs. If the two sides don’t match well, they…

I’m Killing It at PASS Summit 2015!

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Doug Lane

#SQLPass

I’m delighted and honored to be presenting two sessions at the 2015 PASS Summit in Seattle: “Living and Dying by Dynamic SQL” and “SQL Server Mystery: Dead Reports Don’t Talk”. Since I’ve never done either of these sessions at the Summit before, here’s a little more information about the sessions to help you decide whether to attend:…

Database Connection Hazards with Entity Framework

Last Updated July 15, 2015

Doug Lane

SQL Server

I recently came across a curious case where a SQL Server was suffering a number of long-running queries coming from an application written in Entity Framework. When I measured the average query execution times, I got some unexpected results: CPU time: 12 milliseconds Reads: 273 Elapsed time: 6800 milliseconds Wait, what? Looking at the wait stats…

Three Easy Tweaks to Tune Up Your SQL Server

Last Updated July 2, 2015

Doug Lane

SQL Server

I’ve been doing SQL Critical Care® work with clients for over a year now. It’s absolutely true that every client’s situation is different and needs special attention. However, I’ve found that there’s a short list of issues that nearly all clients have in common. Drawing from that list, here are the top three high-impact, low-effort areas you can work…

Five Interview Questions to Ask SQL Server Developers

Last Updated March 9, 2015

Doug Lane

Interviewing

“If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?”“A tree with a job.” When it comes to hiring a SQL Server developer, we can pepper candidates with HR-type questions (“Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker and how you resolved it.”) but that doesn’t give us…

Overheard in Performance Tuning Training Class

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Doug Lane

Humor, SQL Server

A sampling of things overheard at our 2015 Performance Troubleshooting Class in Denver: “I’m not a GUID hater.” “Oh, God help me. I’ve clicked on XML.” “Reporting Services looks around at the available memory, makes itself at home, maybe takes its pants off.” “Where would I go to check if I — hypothetically — accidentally set…

The Top 3 Mistakes T-SQL Developers Make

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Doug Lane

Development, SQL Server, T-SQL

Over the years, I’ve done all kinds of awful things with T-SQL and made countless mistakes. Some were harmless; others were borderline catastrophic (exciting times!). I was curious what kind of horrible mistakes other people make, so I threw the question out to Twitter. Every answer I got was unique, which was both telling (so…

Why You Simply Must Have a Date Table [Video]

Last Updated December 26, 2021

Doug Lane

SQL Server

As a developer, one of the things I can no longer live without is a date table. Who wants to type DATENAME and DATEPART over and over again? Not this guy, and once you have a date table, you won’t want to either. In this 16-minute video, I’ll give you four reasons why you should…

Doug Broke It: Microsoft Access Data Types [Video]

Last Updated April 19, 2020

Doug Lane

SQL Server

In this video, Doug talks about how changing a column’s data type in SQL Server can be dangerous when there are Access clients using it, and a reference table to help avoid type mismatches when planning data type changes. Click here to see the list of SQL Server data types according to Access.

Doug Broke It: Reporting Services Encryption Keys [Video]

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Doug Lane

Backup and Recovery, Videos

In this 5-minute video, Doug tells about the time he deleted the Reporting Services encryption key, and what it took to fix the damage. You’ll learn about what the SSRS encryption key protects, as well when to: Back up the encryption key Restore the encryption key Change the encryption key Delete the encryption key

Doug Broke It: Minimal Logging [Video]

Last Updated May 9, 2014

Doug Lane

Videos

In this 5-minute video, Doug explains how he kept filling SQL Server’s transaction log during ETL development, and how minimal logging could have prevented a lot of the log writes. You’ll learn about: What minimal logging is How to turn minimal logging on How to tell if minimal logging is working Using minimal logging for…

The Day the SQL Server Quit [Video]

Last Updated April 27, 2014

Doug Lane

Videos

In this 5-minute video, Doug tells a story about a DBA whose SQL Server got fed up with being misconfigured and decided to do something about it. Topics include CPU settings like MAXDOP and Cost Threshold for Parallelism, memory and disk configuration.

Developer’s Guide to Understanding DBAs [Video]

Last Updated April 18, 2014

Doug Lane

SQL Server

You’re a developer, and you want to know: What do DBAs value? What do DBAs need from me? What does my DBA want to help me with? How big should that server be? Is the DBA judging my code? What happens if I get in trouble with my DBA? Learn the answers in this 30-minute…

Refactoring T-SQL with Windowing Functions

Last Updated February 14, 2017

Doug Lane

SQL Server, T-SQL, Videos

You’ve been querying comparative numbers like Year To Date and Same Period Last Year by using tedious CTEs and subqueries. Beginning with SQL Server 2012, getting these numbers is easier than ever! Join Doug for a 30-minute T-SQL tune-up using window functions that will cut down dramatically on the amount of code you need to…

Alaska has a SQL Server User Group!

Last Updated February 13, 2014

Doug Lane

#SQLPass, Writing and Presenting

Alaska is on the PASS map! I’m really stoked to share the news: Alaska (my home state) finally has a PASS Chapter of its own! The group just got started last December, and officially welcomed into the PASS organization at the end of January. While they don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account yet, they…