SQL Server 2016

Get Ready: SQL Server 2016 Mainstream Support Ends in One Week.

Last Updated July 6, 2021

SQL Server 2016

Brent Ozar, bearer of bad news Who am I kidding? You’re not really going to get ready, but let’s talk about this anyway. SQL Server 2016 mainstream support ends Tuesday, July 13, 2021. According to Microsoft’s SQL Server support policy, that means from here on out, Microsoft will only deliver security patches, not functional, performance,…

Which Version of SQL Server Should You Use?

Last Updated June 11, 2021

Brent Ozar

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017, SQL Server 2019

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Wait! Before you install that next SQL Server, hold up. Are you sure you’re using the right version? I know, management wants you to stay on an older build, and the vendor says they’ll only support older versions, but now’s your chance to make your case for a newer version – and I’m gonna help…

SQL Server Patches for Meltdown and Spectre Attacks

Last Updated January 5, 2018

Brent Ozar

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017

The Meltdown and Spectre attacks are newly announced ways of hacking CPUs. They affect both Windows and Linux. If you’re running under virtualization or cloud IaaS, any other running guest can try to leverage the attacks to compromise your unrelated guest. Meltdown (yes, it has a logo) These are a really big deal. Cloud providers…

sp_BlitzQueryStore: A Gentle Introduction

Last Updated May 26, 2020

Erik Darling

Execution Plans, First Responder Kit, Parameter Sniffing, Query Store (QDS), sp_BlitzQueryStore, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017

Odds and ends During the precon, we asked how many people were on 2016, how many people were aware of query store, how many people were using it, and how many people were using sp_BlitzQueryStore. About 1/3 of the hands went up at first, then for each successive question, fewer and fewer hands stayed up.…

How to Get Live Query Plans with sp_BlitzWho

Last Updated November 18, 2017

Brent Ozar

Execution Plans, First Responder Kit, sp_BlitzWho, SQL Server 2016

sp_BlitzWho is our open source replacement for sp_who and sp_who2. It has all kinds of really neat-o outputs like how many degrees of parallelism the query is using, how much memory it’s been granted, how long it’s been waiting for memory grants, and much more. If you’re on SQL Server 2016 SP1 or newer, it…