SQL Server

Indexing, SQL Server

In order to improve your applications and your databases, they will need to change over time. The structure of the database changes, the structure of the tables change, the data in the tables change, the application changes, the queries against the data change. Indexes that once helped performance now just bloat your database and cause extra work…

Rolling Averages in SQL Server

Last Updated May 8, 2013

Jeremiah Peschka

Aggregate functions are convenient – they solve a business need and they make development easy. Unfortunately, not all business requirements are so easy to solve. Let’s look at one example: rolling averages. The Rolling Average A rolling average is a simple concept; an average is computed over a fixed subset of data. Rolling average calculations…

How Does SQL Server Store Data?

Last Updated July 13, 2017

Let’s step back and take a look at the big picture. (Today, I’m writing for beginners, so you advanced gurus can go ahead and close the browser now. I’m going to simplify things and leave a lot out in order to get some main points across. Don’t well-actually me.) Microsoft SQL Server databases are stored…

7 Things Developers Should Know About SQL Server

Last Updated April 3, 2022

Development, SQL Server

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Hi. I’m a former developer who’s moved into database administration, and here’s what I wish somebody would have told me when I got started. 7. SQL functions rarely perform well. Good developers like to reuse code by putting it into functions, and then calling those functions from multiple places. That’s a great practice in the…

Why You Should Care About Lori’s New Job

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Blogging, SQL Server

Right now is an incredible time to do what you love. Take this one-minute video from Red Bull: It’s chock full of people doing cool, crazy stuff that they’re absolutely passionate about – skating, dancing, shooting hoops, singing – all the stuff the cool kids do. Red Bull’s logo is scattered in throughout the video…

Why We’re Offering Training for Developers

Last Updated February 12, 2013

DBAs have been asking me, “Brent, why do you have a book of Lady Gaga photos on your standing desk?” Also, “Brent, why are you guys offering training for developers instead of training for DBAs? Have you lost your minds? Why have you crossed over to the other side? Have you forgotten that we know…

The Fastest Query is the One You Never Make

Last Updated February 9, 2017

Licensing, SQL Server

When someone brings me a query to tune, I start with a few questions: How long does it take to run now? I’m looking for a time at first, and later as I progress through tuning, I’ll measure it more scientifically with logical reads and CPU cycles. How long would you like it to take? …

Hive Data Warehouse: Lessons Learned (video)

Last Updated February 9, 2013

Jeremiah Peschka

Your company is considering a data warehouse and you’re unsure where to start; with so many tools on the market, it can be difficult to pick a solution. Jeremiah Peschka has designed and deployed several data warehouses using Hive to scale flexibly with data volume and query complexity. Learn what Jeremiah has found in real-life…

Our 2-Day SQL Server Class in Atlanta in May!

Last Updated August 18, 2021

You’re a developer stuck managing a SQL Server that you don’t really understand. Why is it slow? You’ve got a hunch that it’s not really your queries, but you’re not quite sure. You’ve tried adding indexes, but you’re not confident that they’re the right ones. The hardware guys say they don’t see a problem, but…

The DBA Comics: @DBAreactions

Last Updated February 3, 2013

Database administration is an unusual job because nobody understands what we do. You know how you get all frustrated when certain things happen, but nobody else understands what you’re thinking? Yeah, me too. I give you @DBAreactions: Twitter and Tumblr. We’ve been working on it for the last few weeks, and we’re having more fun…

Best Practices + Table Partitioning: Merging Boundary Points

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Kendra Little

Partitioning, SQL Server

One of the many best practices for SQL Server’s table partitioning feature is to create “extra” empty partitions around your data. This is explained in SQL Server Books Online in the page on altering a Partition Function: Always keep empty partitions at both ends of the partition range to guarantee that the partition split (before…

The Okapis of SQL Server Indexes

Last Updated February 2, 2013

They are elusive and hard to spot in the wild, but they exist: rare index options that can enhance the performance of your queries. If you have a solid knowledge of index basics and want to add to your collection, this is the session for you! In this 30-minute video, Jes will show you how…

SQL Server Table Partitioning Tutorial: Videos and Scripts

Last Updated December 29, 2021

Kendra Little

Partitioning, SQL Server, Videos

There’s a secret to learning about SQL Server’s table partitioning feature: you need to get your hands on some code and really play with it in a test environment. In this tutorial, Kendra will walk you through test scripts that set up a sample table partitioning environment. These scripts demonstrate gotchas to look out for…

When a Query Isn’t Quite a Query

Last Updated January 16, 2013

Jeremiah Peschka

Databases exist to store data and answer questions about that data. The way we ask questions has to change based on the database itself – SQL changes between different RDBMS vendors. Things get even stranger when you venture outside the RDBMS world and start storing your data in Hive. Even though Hive Query Language (HiveQL)…

Choosing the Right SQL Server Version: It’s Trickier than You’d Think

Last Updated February 16, 2013

Kendra Little

It’s finally time– you’ve been given the thumbs up to upgrade to SQL Server 2012. You’ve selected your SQL Server Edition and worked out your licensing agreement. You’ve sized new hardware in production and sketched out your migration plan. You’re ready to install developer edition in the test environment. You grab your installation media and……

VMware HA is Not Database Server High Availability

Last Updated April 8, 2017

Clustering, SQL Server, Virtualization

I served with High Availability. I knew High Availability. High Availability was a friend of mine. VMware HA, you’re no High Availability. See, for us database administrators, high availability means protection when: The system drive fills up because some potato decided to download a bunch of files An operating system or database server update goes…

Big Changes for Big Virtual Machines in VMware vSphere 5

Last Updated June 17, 2013

SQL Server, Virtualization

Even if your SQL Server is the only guest on a host, it still might not be as fast as bare metal. One of the reasons is NUMA, which stands for Not Ur Momma’s Architecture. Okay, no, smart reader, you caught me – it actually stands for Non-Uniform Memory Access. In your momma’s architecture (Symmetric…

Video: Documentation – It Doesn’t Suck!

Last Updated January 15, 2013

SQL Server, Videos

Without documentation, you could probably do your taxes, build a new piece of “some assembly required” furniture, or manage a database instance – but you’d probably end up living in prison, living with broken furniture, or living in fear of your servers. Writing documentation might not seem as important or exciting as developing or tuning…

Documentation: It Doesn’t Suck!

Last Updated January 16, 2013