First Responder Kit

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First Responder Kit

Our free First Responder Kit (zip) is packed with scripts, worksheets, and checklists like:

sp_Blitz, sp_BlitzIndex, sp_BlitzCache – free health check scripts
White papers – on Availability Groups, Google Compute Engine, disaster recovery in the cloud, and more
Worksheets and e-books – like our SQL Server Setup Checklist and the HA/DR Worksheet

It’s totally free because we’ve been there too. We’re database administrators and developers who know how hard it is to keep SQL Server fast and reliable, and we want to make your job easier. Later, if you need consulting for tough pains that have you stumped, we hope you’ll remember us and stop by.

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Instructions

Also known as the fine manual that you probably won’t read at first. You’ll regret that later. It’s okay. We’re the same way.

Health Check: sp_Blitz

Is my SQL Server healthy, or sick?

Speed Check: sp_BlitzFirst

Why is my SQL Server slow right now?

Query Check: sp_BlitzCache

Which queries have been using the most resources?

Index Check: sp_BlitzIndex

Are my indexes designed for speed?

Vital Stats: Power BI

Graph server and query performance over time.

Cloud Restores: sp_AllNightLog

How can I use the cloud for disaster recovery?

Query Trending: sp_BlitzQueryStore

How has my query plan changed over time?

Who's Doing What: sp_BlitzWho

Who’s running what queries right now?

Recent First Responder Kit Changes

First Responder Kit Release: Darn May Showers

April 30, 2018

Erik Darling

There’s usually something that I think is funny in this space. Instead, I’m going to extend my already extensive day of civic duty by letting you know something interesting about jury duty. Sometimes, if you show up when they ask you to, they can make you come back for a second day if they…

First Responder Kit Release: Driving Miss Data

March 29, 2018

Erik Darling

Ugh. Bungabase slow. When Grog try count meat, Glug eat meat. Then Grog get hungry and Glug try count meat. Bungalock. Need big head make bungabase fast. You big head? You can download the updated FirstResponderKit.zip here. sp_Blitz Improvements #1459: A while back, Brent blogged about implicit transactions. In the comments, a smart commenter named Dan pointed…

First Responder Kit Release: SQLBits was pretty awesome but now I have to do work again

February 28, 2018

Erik Darling

APRIL FOOLS! IT’S ONLY MARCH FIRST! Tomorrow. Butthead. You can download the updated FirstResponderKit.zip here. sp_Blitz Improvements #1407: @parlevjo2 gave us a check to make sure databases are owned by an existing user. Existence is everything, so I hear. #1416: After existence is probably location. After that is collation. @ktaranov let us know that our collation wasn’t all that. Especially…

First Responder Kit Release: Sunday, Boring Sunday

January 28, 2018

Erik Darling

This is a modified limited release. After a few new feature releases, we’re achieving stasis. You can download the updated FirstResponderKit.zip here. There are a couple points from the last release that I really need to emphasize: sp_BlitzCache got some new columns added to the output for tempdb spills. If you want to keep logging it…

First Responder Kit Release: It’s Too Cold Not To Do A Release

January 9, 2018

Erik Darling

You look just like a snake when you crawl like a worm. You can download the updated FirstResponderKit.zip here. sp_Blitz Improvements #1310: @CferMN reported quite an odd conversion error! Turns out, division was a better idea than multiplication. #1341: We we missing the newest version of Windows, and we had a broken link. Thanks to @JaySpatzfor letting us know!…

Sizing A New Server? Start With Maintenance.

December 22, 2017

Erik Darling

dba, sql server

Clientele Most of out customers are on slightly (ahem) older (AHEM) hardware, and they have big questions: How do we know what kind of hardware we need? How do we load test it? How do we know what to change to make it better? The load test question is interesting, particularly because getting a reliable…

Introducing sp_BlitzLock: For Troubleshooting SQL Server Deadlocks

December 19, 2017

Erik Darling

Deadlocks are hard Especially when there are a lot of them. When there are dozens or more, looking at each graph is a pain. I had a script written that parsed out the XML, but really, having a folder full of random scripts is for old people. Like Twitter and reverse mortgages. So I turned…

sp_BlitzQueryStore: A Gentle Introduction

December 7, 2017

Erik Darling

dba, development, performance tuning, sql server

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.…

First Responder Kit Release: Treating Object References Like Object Instances, Man

December 5, 2017

Erik Darling

Object reference not set to an instance of an object. You can download the updated FirstResponderKit.zip here. sp_Blitz Improvements #1281 We’ve lowered the priority of Query Store being disabled. It’s just not as important as the backups you’re not taking and the corruption checks you’re not running. sp_BlitzCache Improvements #1253 Due to an unfortunate copy and paste incident,…

How to Track SQL Server Changes with sp_BlitzFirst

November 22, 2017

Brent Ozar

PowerBI, sp_BlitzFirst

In the First Responder Kit’s Power BI Dashboard, there’s a Quick Diagnosis results area where sp_BlitzFirst takes a guess at why your SQL Server was slow – or in this case, why it suddenly got faster: Logging your work in sp_BlitzFirst’s Quick Diagnosis results (click to zoom) In this case, wait times were bad, and…