SQL Server

Packed room for a security session at 9AM. Think about that for a second. Here’s my notes from this morning’s SQL Server 2016 security session by Jakub Szymaszek and Joachim Hammer at Ignite 2015 in Chicago: The first previews of SQL Server 2016 this summer will include the Always Encrypted, row-level security, and dynamic data masking…

Forcing Join Order Without Hints

Last Updated May 6, 2015

Erik Darling

Brent buys lunch for the ladies The purpose of this post is to show a bit of syntax that often gets overlooked in favor of using query hints to force joins to occur in a particular order. We’ll start by creating three tables. One for employees, one for orders, and one for items in the…

SQL Server Version Detection

Last Updated April 30, 2015

Jeremiah Peschka

Every now and then, you need to figure out which version of SQL Server you’re using without knowing in advance. This might happen in a script (like sp_BlitzCache) or you might be using it in a migration. Getting the SQL Server Version with @@VERSION THe first thing that comes to mind is @@VERSION. On my…

Microsoft Ignite SQL Server Keynote Liveblog #MSIgnite

Last Updated January 5, 2019

Yes, there are actually multiple keynotes here at Ignite, Microsoft’s new infrastructure conference. With so many products (Windows, O365, SharePoint, Dynamics, mobile, Azure, etc.) and so many attendees (over 20K), they had to break things up a little. This morning, CEO Satya Nadella and friends delivered the overall keynote. This afternoon, Microsofties have delivered a…

Reading the SQL Server 2016 Data Sheet

Last Updated May 4, 2015

The SQL Server 2016 PDF data sheet is out, giving us the first public look at the next round of features in Microsoft’s database product. Quick disclaimer: I’m a Microsoft MVP and Certified Master, and we’ve got clients that work with Microsoft. As such, I’m bound by a few non-disclosure agreements. For this post, I’m…

Microsoft Ignite Morning Keynote Liveblog #MSIgnite

Last Updated May 4, 2015

Summary: Microsoft announced SQL Server 2016, with the first public preview coming this summer. The SQL Server 2016 release dates for the download were not announced. Here’s the SQL Server 2016 PDF data sheet, and here’s the SQL 2016 announcement. As it happened: 8:00AM – Good morning, folks. This week, Microsoft’s new infrastructure conference, Ignite, opens…

New sp_Blitz® and sp_BlitzCache® Updates

Last Updated April 30, 2015

Ah, spring, when a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of updating his DMV queries. sp_Blitz®, our free health check stored procedure, brings several new checks and a whole crop of fixes and improvements. I’d like to call your attention to one in particular. Julie Citro fixed check 1, THE VERY FIRST CHECK IN THE…

Microsoft SQL Server Licensing Simplified into 7 Rules

Last Updated August 4, 2025

Licensing, SQL Server

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Licensing is really complex, but as long as you know these seven rules, you can go a long way: If you query it, you have to license it. (Backups and corruption checks are not considered querying.) You have to license all of the processor cores that the operating system sees, even if you’re not allowing SQL…

Should You Be a SQL Server DBA? (video)

Last Updated April 23, 2015

Have you ever wondered if you should be a SQL Server Database Administrator? If you think this might be the right career path for you, watch this video and take our quiz! Got limited time or need to restart the quiz? No problem, we’ve got a table of contents with time indicators below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYI7UGi14jw “Should…

Are Index ‘Included’ Columns in Your Multi-Column Statistics?

Last Updated July 13, 2017

Indexing, SQL Server

Internals Cat populates the density vector When you create an index in SQL Server with multiple columns, behind the scenes it creates a related multi-column statistic for the index. This statistic gives SQL Server some information about the relationship between the columns that it can use for row estimates when running queries. But what if…

And Party and Alt Shift

Last Updated April 14, 2015

Erik Darling

This is a cool SSMS trick I picked up a while back Though not nearly as far back as I wish I had. It’s so cool I made a .gif of it in action. When you’re done putting your socks back on, I’ll tell you how it works. This .gif was brought to you by…

Happy Fourth Birthday to Us, 40% Off Presents for You

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Company News, SQL Server

Four years ago this month, we turned this blog into a consulting company. We’ve had so much fun over the last few years, and we’re really proud of what we’ve built: Over 500 SQL Critical Care® patients Thousands of training video customers Thousands of in-person training attendees at dozens of classes and pre-cons Hundreds of…

How to Evaluate NoSQL Case Studies [Video]

Last Updated April 14, 2015

Every now and then, one of our clients considers adopting an alternative database platform – sometimes NoSQL, sometimes a brand new relational database. They’ll ask for our help in evaluating the vendor’s solution. One of the best ways to do it is ask the database vendor to set us up on a WebEx or GoToMeeting with…

When is a Hyper-V Virtual Machine Not Really a Virtual Machine?

Last Updated April 17, 2015

Former Sysadmins When you set up a Windows Server, you might be tempted to add a bunch of roles, just in case you want to use them in the future. Don’t do it: things can get weird. If you add the Hyper-V role to Windows Server 2012 and higher, it changes some things about how…

“Breaking” News: Don’t Install SQL Server 2014 SP1

Last Updated September 21, 2017

Always On Availability Groups, Breaking News, SQL Server

Yesterday, Microsoft announced availability of Service Pack 1, saying: As part of our continued commitment to software excellence for our customers, this upgrade is available to all customers with existing SQL Server 2014 deployments via the download links below. Yeah, about that commitment to software excellence. This morning, the download is gone: Notice: The SQL SSIS…

SELECT INTO and non-nullable columns

Last Updated April 9, 2015

Erik Darling

SELECT…INTO is one of my favorite SQL Server features. It’s great for creating table skeletons with false WHERE clauses (1=2), moving a real table to a staged/temp location for testing, etc. In SQL Server 2014 It acquired the ability to go parallel, which is pretty neat, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. It…

The @DBAreactions Guide to In-Memory OLTP (Hekaton)

Last Updated February 13, 2017

In-Memory OLTP (Hekaton), SQL Server

At SQLbits last month, I presented a new session: Cool Story, Bro – The DBAreactions Guide to SQL Server 2014. I wanted to have some fun while educating folks about the surprise gotchas of the newest features. Here’s the In-Memory OLTP (Hekaton) section of the session: Our sp_Blitz® has long warned you if Hekaton is in…

Can DBCC SHRINKFILE Cause Blocking in SQL Server?

Last Updated January 11, 2018

Locking, Blocking, and Isolation Levels, SQL Server

It sure can. The lock risks of shrinking data files in SQL Server aren’t very well documented. Many people have written about shrinking files being a bad regular practice— and that’s totally true. But sometimes you may need to run a one-time operation if you’ve been able to clear out or archive a lot of…

Is Your SAN Administrator Out to Get You?

Last Updated April 1, 2015