Tag: Script Library

SQL Server Database Mail Troubleshooting

How to Troubleshoot SQL Server Database Mail Issues Using Built-In View

Sending emails from a SQL Server via sp_send_dbmail is common, but troubleshooting problems can be frustrating. Fortunately, SQL Server logs every email attempt, making it easier to find and fix issues. View All Messages Processed By Database Mail The sysmail_allitems view shows every email that Database Mail has tried to process, whether it was successful…
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Tail-Log Backup SQL Server

Why Tail-Log Backups Matter for SQL Server Recovery and Migration

In previous posts, we’ve covered the more routine types of backups available within SQL Server — full, differential, and transaction log backups. While you may not use them as often, you should also be aware of tail-log backups when managing SQL Server. Tail-log backups can help in two scenarios. What is a tail-log backup? Tail-log…
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Undermanaged SQL Servers can lead to frustration for both your customers and your team.

The Costs of Undermanaged SQL Servers for Financial Institutions

Banks and credit unions rely on SQL Server databases to power transactions, portals, reporting, fraud detection, and core systems. Despite this, many institutions end up undermanaging or even overlooking these critical systems. The result? Performance lags, security vulnerabilities, and unplanned downtime that can cost far more than most institutions realize. If you’re responsible for operational…
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How to Encrypt Sensitive Text in SQL Server with ENCRYPTBYPASSPHRASE

How to Encrypt Sensitive Text in SQL Server with ENCRYPTBYPASSPHRASE

Storing sensitive information in a database, like passwords or social security numbers, is common practice. However, storing them securely is less common. Unfortunately, one of the most typical approaches is to store sensitive information in a table as clear text. That means that anyone with access to that table can see all of that sensitive…
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Prevent SQL Server Outages by Monitoring Transaction Log Growth

Prevent SQL Server Outages by Monitoring Transaction Log Growth

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been called after hours due to a drive filling up. The usual culprit? Transaction file log growth. Monitoring the growth of your SQL Server transaction log files is crucial for maintaining database performance and ensuring system reliability. Unchecked transaction log growth can lead to disk space issues and…
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Scripts SQL Server Logins

Useful Scripts For SQL Server Logins and Permissions

Since security and permissions are a big part of a DBA’s job, it’s important to be able to find out things like who has elevated login permissions or when a login was last used. Here are a few queries to help you check your server and database access. Most of these scripts are based off…
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Basic Availability Groups: Affordable High Availability with Key Limitations

Basic Availability Groups: Affordable High Availability with Key Limitations

In SQL Server 2022, Basic Availability Groups provide a limited, cost-effective solution for high availability and disaster recovery in the Standard Edition. However, they have several limitations when compared to a standard Availability Group in the Enterprise Edition. Although Basic AGs were introduced before SQL Server 2022, we’ll focus strictly on the latest version. Let’s…
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Reducing Business Risks for a SQL Server Estate

Reducing Business Risks for a SQL Server Estate

Your SQL Servers are the backbone of your company’s data operations. They power critical applications and store valuable information. They enable financial decisions, undergird operational activities, and support your sales processes. But what happens if there’s a problem? What happens when data is lost or corrupted? Or if one of your key systems is down…
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Deprecated Feature SQL

Tracking Deprecated Features in SQL Server

With each new release of SQL Server, we gain exciting new features—but also face the reality of deprecated features that should be phased out. Although these deprecated features aren’t immediately disabled, they won’t be supported in future SQL Server versions. Ideally, you should start removing them from your code now to avoid potential issues during…
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Streamline your failovers with contained Availability Groups

Streamline SQL Server Management with Contained Availability Groups

SQL Server Availability Groups can present challenges after a failover, such as missing logins, outdated passwords, or absent SQL Server Agent jobs. Some clients address these issues by requiring the primary replica to remain on the same instance. If a failover occurs due to an outage or patching, they generally request to revert the AG…
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