SQL Server

One of our training class attendees asked a great question: who’s really doing this stuff? We talked about it in class, and I figured it’d make a great blog post question too. So if you’re doing CI (automatic deployment of database changes), answer in the comments with: How many database developers you have? How many…

What happens to transaction log backups during full backups?

Last Updated December 9, 2015

TL;DR Unless you’re on SQL 2000, don’t worry about scheduling log backups during full backups Log backups during full backups won’t truncate the transaction log You want to keep taking log backups in case your full backup fails The first time I ever set up backups Was, unfortunately, using a maintenance plan. All of the…

Give Your T-SQL a Semicolonoscopy

Last Updated February 13, 2017

#SQLPass, SQL Server, Writing and Presenting

SQL Server, T-SQL

In theory, all of your T-SQL statements are supposed to end with a semicolon, like this: Transact-SQL SELECT * FROM dbo.Posts; SELECT * FROM dbo.Comments; GO 123 SELECT * FROM dbo.Posts;SELECT * FROM dbo.Comments;GO Why? Well, SQL Server 2005’s Books Online says: Many code examples use a semicolon (;) as a Transact-SQL statement terminator. Although the…

We Are Ready For Risk-Taking Presenters

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Doug Lane

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…

Improved diagnostics for query execution plans that involve residual predicate pushdown

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Execution Plans, SQL Server

I love stuff like this! Even though it’s not on my list of dream features, it’s pretty neat. Getting new views into what SQL is doing when queries execute is pretty cool. You can read the short and gory details at the KB here: Improved diagnostics for query execution plans that involve residual predicate pushdown…

How to Make SQL Server Backups Go Faster

Last Updated February 9, 2017

Backup and Recovery, SQL Server

At its core, backup speed boils down to just two numbers. Question 1: How fast can SQL Server read data from disk? You can measure this by doing a full backup to disk, but use the NUL: option: Transact-SQL BACKUP DATABASE MyDb TO DISK='NUL:' 1 BACKUP DATABASE MyDb TO DISK='NUL:' This does a backup, but doesn’t…

We’re now a Microsoft Gold Partner.

Last Updated December 3, 2015

In our never-ending quest for world domination (for values of “world” and “domination”), we’re now a Gold Data Platform partner. The Original Gold Partner (Photo by Rafael Marquez) What does this mean? Well, it’s an achievement badge, and we like unlocking new achievements, so, uh…yeah. No, seriously, some company executives only want to deal with Gold Partners, so…

Filtered Indexes: Just Add Includes

Last Updated May 9, 2018

Indexing, SQL Server

I found a quirky thing recently While playing with filtered indexes, I noticed something odd. By ‘playing with’ I mean ‘calling them horrible names’ and ‘admiring the way other platforms implemented them‘. I sort of wrote about a similar topic in discussing indexing for windowing functions. It turns out that a recent annoyance could also…

Tracking tempdb growth using Extended Events

Last Updated February 13, 2017

SQL Server, TempDB

Everyone knows tempdb is a wierd [sic] place Brent refers to it as a public toilet. I agree with that sentiment. It will let anyone in to do whatever they want. Recently I was trying to track down what was causing tempdb’s log to grow. I was thinking about using a Trace to do it,…

Jeremiah & Kendra are Heading Out

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Company News, SQL Server

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When we started the company a few years ago, we had no idea what we were in for. We had to: Come up with a product Build a consistent, repeatable process Hire the right people to help perform that process Train them how to do the process Scale it up bigger Build training classes for…

Announcing our 2016 SQL Server Training Scholarship Winners

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Company News, SQL Server

We’re serious about the heart thing. Thanksgiving is the perfect day for us to give back to the community that has given so much to us. Our SQL Server Training Scholarship program applications were open to folks anywhere in the world working with SQL Server for foundations, non-profits, charities, or other similar companies making a real…

Trace Flag 2330: Who needs missing index requests?

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Memory Grants, SQL Server

Bad Idea Jeans, Indexing, SQL Server

Hey, remember 2005? What a great year for… not SQL Server. Mirroring was still a Service Pack away, and there was an issue with spinlock contention on OPT_IDX_STATS or SPL_OPT_IDX_STATS. The KB for it is over here, and it’s pretty explicit that the issue was fixed in 2008, and didn’t carry over to any later…

SQL Server 2012 SP3 Adds Memory Grant and Performance Features

Last Updated January 8, 2019

Kendra Little

New ways to measure your queries SQL Server 2012 SP3 has just been freshly released! Not only does this release contain bug fixes, it also contains a slew of performance tuning related features. Many of these features are about memory grants. This is NOT the memory used in the buffer pool/ data cache by the…

Brent’s Bad Idea Jeans: Stop People From Changing Tables with This One Trick

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Bad Idea Jeans, Humor, SQL Server

Developers hate his bad idea jeans: Transact-SQL CREATE VIEW dbo.StopThemDead WITH SCHEMABINDING AS SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.Table1 UNION ALL SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.Table2 UNION ALL.... 123456 CREATE VIEW dbo.StopThemDead WITH SCHEMABINDINGASSELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.Table1UNION ALLSELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.Table2UNION ALL.... Presto, the schemabinding option means no one can change the underlying tables. (At least, until they…

Why is SQL Server Slow Sometimes – But Only Sometimes?

Last Updated November 12, 2015

Have you got a SQL Server that usually performs just fine, but every now and then, everything falls to pieces? Users complain about performance, and then minutes – or hours – later, the problem just mysteriously solves itself? Here’s a few things to look for: Are data or log files growing? When SQL Server needs to…

Is My SQL Server Too Big for Virtualization or the Cloud?

Last Updated November 10, 2015

Let’s set size aside for a second. Here’s the order in which you should try new technologies – whether it’s virtualization, cloud, storage, or whatever: Development servers with less than 100GB of data Production servers with less than 100GB of data Development servers with <1TB Production servers with <1TB Development servers with >1TB Production servers with…

What kCura Relativity Best in Service Means for SQL Server DBAs

Last Updated February 9, 2017

kCura Relativity, SQL Server

kCura Relativity is a legal e-discovery application that hosts its data in SQL Server. You can host it yourself, or hire a hosting partner who specializes in hosting it for you. The best hosting partners compete for Best in Service status, an award that means what it says on the tin. Starting this year, kCura’s…

#FreeCon 2015 PASS Summit Recap

Last Updated November 1, 2016

We believe that when you’re at a community event, the most valuable thing isn’t what’s up on the screen. Instead, it’s building relationships with the people around you. With that in mind, over the last five years, we’ve run a series of FreeCons – totally free networking events for the SQL Server community. This year’s…

Interviewing: How to Test TSQL Writing Skills

Last Updated November 2, 2015

Kendra Little