Cloud Computing

Amazon Web Services (AWS), SQL ConstantCare

In our behind-the-scenes posts about building SQL ConstantCare®, I’ve written about how we picked serverless architecture for the application layer, and how we picked AWS Aurora for the database layer. Hosting costs were a big driving factor in those decisions – so how has that worked out? Presented for your enjoyment, here are our total…

How The Cloud Turns Performance Tuning Into Cost Savings

June 27, 2018

Cloud Computing

Amazon Web Services (AWS), PasteThePlan.com

Barely Metal In Ye Olde Olden Dayyes, companies would outline hardware budgets and refresh cycles. Every 3-5 years, they’d lick a thumb and hold it up to the CPU fans. If they felt a soft breeze, they’d buy the same number of CPUs. If they felt a hard breeze, they’d buy a few more. This…

Updating Paste The Plan to use the Serverless Framework

June 18, 2018

Richie Rump

I just updated PasteThePlan, and the change you’ll notice first is that we’re using the latest version of Justin Pealing’s html-query-plan. It adds missing index hints, yellow bangs for warnings like implicit conversions and no join predicate, and more. Check out this example plan: PasteThePlan, June 2018 Edition Plus variable line widths for different amounts…

Azure SQL Managed Instances and Database Corruption

March 19, 2018

Backup and Recovery, Managed Instances

Disclaimer: I love Azure SQL Managed Instances (MIs) so far. They’re really cool, and I’m having a fun time playing with them. I’m about to describe a bug, and I’m sure this bug will be fixed soon, so it shouldn’t stop you from previewing Managed Instances. This post is not “MIs are t3h suxxors” –…

Azure SQL DB Managed Instances: Transactional Replication

March 17, 2018

Tara Kizer

Managed Instances, Replication

I knew Brent and Erik wouldn’t touch replication, so I figured I’d give it a whirl. My good, old friend replication I have a love-hate relationship with replication. Mostly hate due to latency and errors, but it does serve its purpose. Before Availability Groups came out, I used Transactional Replication to copy data from the…

Azure SQL Managed Instances Brain Dump on CPU, Memory, HA/DR, and Backups

March 16, 2018

Managed Instances

Normally when we write blog posts, we try to explain something or tell a story. If you’re looking for a solid educational post, stop here, mark this one as read, and go on about your day. This post is just a brain dump of unorganized notes from our experimenting with Azure SQL DB Managed Instances…

How to Restore a SQL Server Database into Azure SQL DB Managed Instances Redux

March 16, 2018

Managed Instances, Microsoft Azure, SQL Server

Anything Brent Can Do There’s some things you can do with Managed Instances, and some ways you can look at data that you can’t do elsewhere. For instance, you have the ability to start an restore ASYNC — that means if your session drops, the restore will continue headlessly in the background. There’s nothing about…

Azure SQL DB Managed Instances: New Wait Stats

March 16, 2018

Managed Instances, Microsoft Azure, SQL Server

Incidental This is a long list that I haven’t had a change to dig through yet — all I did was compare them to which waits were occurring on my 2017 CU4 instance. There are about 174 of them that I found, though some may just be generated by Hekaton that I don’t have set up…

Azure SQL DB Managed Instances: We’re All GUIDs

March 16, 2018

Managed Instances, SQL Server

Six is having problems adjusting to his clone status Some funny things happen when you create databases up in a Managed Instance. For Instance (HEH!), you may expect this to yield some fruitful results, but it Manages (HAH!) to defy logic. Transact-SQL CREATE DATABASE YourMom; SELECT * FROM sys.master_files WHERE name = 'YourMom'; 12345 CREATE DATABASE YourMom; SELECT…

Azure SQL DB Managed Instances: Trace Flags, Ahoy!

March 16, 2018

Managed Instances, SQL Server

When you talk to people from Microsoft They’re all “aw shucks” about Trace Flags. “Don’t really need’em!” “Eh, haven’t used one in years.” “Sometimes they’re good for troubleshooting, but…” Then you hop on a managed instance (where you’re not allowed to turn Trace Flags on or off), and you see what they have turned on.…

How to Restore a SQL Server Database into Azure SQL DB Managed Instances

March 16, 2018

Backup and Recovery, Managed Instances, Microsoft Azure

You’ve built your first Managed Instance, and now you wanna play around with real live data. You’re going to need a backup in the cloud to do it – SSMS doesn’t have a drag-and-drop option. Big picture, here’s what we’re going to do: Set up a container in the cloud to hold our backups In…

How to Deploy Your First Azure SQL DB Managed Instance Preview

March 16, 2018

Managed Instances, Microsoft Azure

The Azure SQL DB Managed Instance public preview is open, although it may take a week or two for new applications to get their new VMs. To start your application process now, go into your Azure portal and Create an Azure SQL Managed Instance. There are preview terms at the top – fill out the…

How to Back Up SQL Server to Azure Blob Storage

March 10, 2018

Microsoft Azure

When you’re planning for disaster recovery, offsite backups in the cloud are an attractive option. SQL Server Management Studio makes it easy to back up to the cloud inside the GUI, and you can learn how in just 90 seconds: Update March 12 – if you want a better end result than what I get…

Running SQL Server in the Cloud: 2017 Edition

December 8, 2017

Cloud Computing, Log Shipping

Cloud Computing

You have two basic options: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is just VMs running in someone else’s data center – be it Amazon, Google, or Microsoft. Job duties for a DBA are the same as on-premises virtual machines: you manage HA, DR, patching, backups, and performance tuning. It’s just that you may have slightly different…

So You Want a Cheap Disaster Plan

November 29, 2017

Tara Kizer

There’s a lot that goes into a Disaster Recovery plan. One of them is offsite backups. There are some businesses that don’t have backups going offsite, let alone a Disaster Recovery plan. This conversation has taken place more than I thought it would. Me: Do you have any HA or DR features in place? Them:…

#PASSsummit Day 2 Keynote: Dr. Rimma Nehme on Azure Cosmos DB

November 2, 2017

#SQLPass, Microsoft Azure

Dr. Rimma Nehme Summit day 2 keynotes have become special. Over the last few years, Microsoft has dedicated the day 2 keynote to a technical dive into an advanced, future-looking topic. Past examples have included future-looking guidance on Hekaton, columnstore indexes, and how Azure SQL DB protects data. I love Microsoft for doing this. It costs…

An Expensive Reason To Avoid AGs In Azure

August 28, 2017

Always On Availability Groups, Backup and Recovery, CHECKDB and Corruption, Cloud Computing, High Availability, Microsoft Azure, SQL Server

availability groups, dba, recovery, sql server

Cash Rules Most people, when they get through paying for Azure, and SQL Server Enterprise Licensing, are left with a hole in their wallet that could only be filled with something that says “Bugatti”, and has a speedometer with an infinity sign at the end. Recently, while working with a client, I found out that…

sp_BlitzCache: Eventual Compatibility With Azure

July 18, 2017

Execution Plans, Microsoft Azure, sp_BlitzCache

azure, dba, development, performance tuning, sp_BlitzCache

Better than nothing Yesterday it was announced that global temp tables were available in public preview for Azure. That means that unmodified versions of sp_BlitzCache (which uses a global temp table to hold a whole bunch of information) will be compatible up there. This is a nice addition for Azure, and an even nicer addition…

Builder Day: Cloudbuilding Episode 1 – The Road to HANA

June 22, 2017