SQL Server

Can I upgrade an existing instance without migrating? Keep your columns and rows inside the database while you prepare for your upgrade. This is nothing against SQL Server 2014, but I can’t stand in-place upgrades. Over the years I’ve had in-place upgrades work flawlessly on a few instances, and then had an install issue cause…

How to Become an Expert at Anything in SQL Server

Last Updated March 20, 2015

First, decide what you want to get really good at. Then try to break it in many possible ways and analyze why it broke. I think it’s going to explode The more you break something, the more you’ll understand it. I use this technique all the time. Last year, I encountered a problem with a lack of…

Watch Brent Tune Queries [Video]

Last Updated March 19, 2015

SQL Server, Videos

Ever wonder how somebody else does it? Watch over my shoulder for this beautifully recorded one-hour session at SQLRally Nordic in Copenhagen from a couple weeks ago: The resources, scripts, and my Be Creepy process are all free too. Enjoy, and check out all of the session recordings for even more free learnin’.

Erik Darling Joins Brent Ozar Unlimited

Last Updated August 10, 2017

Erik Darling

Kendra here– we’re really excited to announce that we’ve hired Erik Darling on to join our team as a consultant. Erik’s first day is today. To introduce Erik, we’re sharing some of his answers to our call for job applications. We were so impressed, we knew we had to talk to him right away. What are…

Getting BLOBS out of the Database

Last Updated March 11, 2015

Jeremiah Peschka

Oracle, SQL Server

Raise your hand if you’re storing BLOBs in the database. I get to say that a lot during our training. Every time I say it, nearly every hand in the room goes up. Some hands go up faster than others, but eventually nearly every hand is up. It’s a design that happens far more often…

Local Variables vs. Parameterized Stored Procedures in SQL Server (Video)

Last Updated February 23, 2016

Local variables don’t behave like true parameters in stored procedures in SQL Server. Join Kendra to explore why local variables are so tricky in this free 10 minute video.

Ten Ways to Tell if Your SQL Server is a Clown Car

Last Updated March 9, 2015

Commuting to work. Sometimes we pile just a few too many duties onto our servers. They start to become a clown car – the classic joke where dozens of clowns come pouring out of an impossibly small car. (The physics behind it are actually really interesting.) So how can you tell if your SQL Server…

How to Tell if You Have a Development Environment

Last Updated February 27, 2015

Take my three question survey… Brent Says: SQL Server Developer Edition licensing is crazy cheap, and it has no per-core licensing fees. I like taking the oldest server I have with a huge number of cores, something that doesn’t make licensing sense for any other purpose, and throwing Developer Edition on there.

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…

SQL Server Common Table Expressions

Last Updated June 4, 2019

Jeremiah Peschka

Common table expressions are a feature of SQL that lets a developer create a query that can be referenced multiple times. This feature gives developers another tool to add flexibility or just to simplify code. Why Common Table Expression? Why is it called a Common Table Expression (CTE)? Because that’s what the documentation calls it!…

How to Measure SQL Server Workloads: Wait Time per Core per Second

Last Updated January 23, 2017

When I ask you how fast your car is, there’s a two common metrics for answers: How fast it can go How much horsepower or torque its engine can deliver If I ask you how hard your car is working right now, you’d probably answer with: Its current speed (in MPH or KPH) Its current engine workload…

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…

sp_BlitzFirst v14 adds CPU % Utilization

Last Updated March 1, 2015

When your SQL Server is having performance problems, sp_BlitzFirst® checks a bunch of common trouble spots. In this week’s new version, it also checks sys.dm_os_ring_buffers for the most recent CPU utilization report from SQL Server and returns it. Here’s what it looks like when the server isn’t under load – note that “No Problems Found” means…

Quiz: Are You the Next Brent Ozar Unlimited Consultant?

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Company News, Interviewing, SQL Server

Hey SQL Server DBAs — we’re hiring! Here’s a quick five question quiz. Give yourself one point for every ‘yes’: Have you been a database administrator for a few years? Does planning how to keep an application reliable and safe from disasters sound like fun? Do you love helping people make SQL Server go faster? Would you…

Woohoo! We Won a Red Gate Tribal Award: Best Blog of 2014 (Again)

Last Updated February 21, 2015

For the past two years, Red Gate’s Tribal Awards have let you, the SQL Server community, nominate and vote on their favorite community voices. Here’s the 2014 winners: Best New Community Voice: Cathrine Wilhelmsen (@CathrineW) Best Presentation at a Technical Conference: Dr. Rimma Nehme (@RimmaNehme) Best New SQL Book: SQL Server Query Performance Tuning by Grant Fritchey…

9 Ways to Lose Your Data

Last Updated February 13, 2017

CHECKDB and Corruption, SQL Server

Every time someone tells me, “This database is mission critical – we can’t have data loss or downtime,” I just smile and shake my head. Technology is seriously difficult. To illustrate, here’s a collection of client stories from the last few years: The DBCC CHECKDB job ran every week just like it was supposed to…

Comparing SQL Server and Oracle Log Shipping

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Jeremiah Peschka

Log Shipping, Oracle, SQL Server

Both Oracle and SQL Server offer several ways to support disaster recovery scenarios. One of the simplest ways to handle DR in the SQL Server world is to use SQL Server log shipping. Oracle doesn’t offer log shipping as a part of the core product, but it’s possible to set up log shipping in Oracle.…

Extended Events Sessions: Messing Up Filters

Last Updated February 13, 2015

Recently, I wanted to play around with the auto_stats event against a test system running SQL Server 2014. I ran through the session setup GUI and added the auto_stats event. I configured it with a filter (predicate) to only show me auto_stats event in a database named AutoStatsTest. There’s a cost to events that may fire frequently and a…

Using “OR” and “IN” with SQL Server’s Filtered Indexes

Last Updated August 22, 2018