Many businesses depend on data systems. Data systems help doctors schedule appointments with patients. They allow construction companies to manage projects and calculate costs. The list goes on and on. And if a key data system isn’t available, it hurts. It’s disruptive. And users, customers, patients, and leadership get unhappy. That’s why it’s important to…
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No one likes to think about how to detect database corruption. But, Imagine this: you’re arriving at your job expecting an ordinary day. You begin receiving calls that the main application is returning a weird error when submitting or updating data; A severe error occurred on the current command. The results, if any, should be…
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“Why is my SQL Server slow?” Have you ever asked that question? Have your users? Unfortunately, that’s a commonly asked question. Fortunately, though, something can usually be done about it. Here are fourteen reasons a SQL Server instance could be underperforming. I’ve divided them into four broad categories. Slowness due to resource constraints Often the…
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SQL Server is good. You install it, give it some databases to manage, and let it do it’s thing. When queries come in, it figures out how to resolve them. If it needs some statistics, it creates them. If the database is running out of space, it’ll grow the data file for you. Automatically. And…
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Coach John Wooden is a legend. He led his beloved UCLA Bruins to ten NCAA National Championships in twelve years. That is an unparalleled accomplishment in any sport, in any endeavor really. So, I began wondering: what if Coach Wooden led a team of DBAs? What would he do? How Coach Wooden’s approach applies to…
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“If three people are responsible for feeding the dog, the dog is going to starve. You must have clear areas of responsibility.” In his book Risk, retired United States Army General Stanley McChrystal shared this quote. It’s from a mentor he had as a young officer. And It helped shape his career. As a family…
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In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with a never-ending stream of urgent tasks and deadlines. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of the big picture. This is where inertia comes into play. And inertia can put your SQL Servers at risk. How urgency creates inertia Inertia is…
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I’m not really a car guy. My daily driver is 10 years old but it serves me well. It’s reliable. It gets me where I want to go and back again. And I want to keep it that way so I maintain it. I change the oil regularly, I rotate the tires almost as often,…
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We’re often asked to provide support during a crisis. Maybe a critical database is corrupt and no longer accessible. Or worse, an entire SQL Server instance is lost. Fortunately, many companies have a documented backup process. What’s far less common, however, is a well-documented process for restoring and recovering the critical databases. That part is…
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“It takes forever to login to the clinical application. I have patients waiting. And I have to sit there waiting for the application to let me in. It’s not good.” Or, “I click the report and wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, I give up and hit Refresh. Nothing happens. Can’t you fix it?” Sound…
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