We know better than to click a link from the son of an unfairly deposed Nigerian Prince who needs our help. Yet, according to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Risk Management Survey, 91% of all cyberattacks begin with a phishing email. And many of them are successful. No business or industry is off limits. So, it’s important…
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SQL Server is being targeted again. This attack is called DB#JAMMER. And it’s targeting poorly secured SQL Servers. What’s happening? Attackers begin by brute-forcing access into poorly secured SQL Servers. Once they have gained access, the attackers use xp_cmdshell to deploy tools. They manipulate the firewall, if needed, and transfer files to and from the…
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“Take time to improve our data management processes? Sorry, we are just too busy”… fixing errors from broken data processes. This refrain is more common than you think in IT departments of all sizes. Or maybe you live that reality every day and are fully aware that clunky, error-laden processes eat away at your team’s…
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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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I sliced into an avocado while making lunch recently. The size of the seed compared to the fruit was shocking! It was huge. There was only a thin layer of fruit surrounding a large, bulbous seed. Interestingly, some avocados are just the opposite – the seed is tiny compared to the amount of fruit inside.…
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Do you schedule DBCC CHECKDB for all of your important databases? Scheduling database integrity checks ranks right up there with backing up your databases when it comes to glamorous activities in the life of a DBA. That is to say, it’s not glamorous at all. Integrity checks don’t bring the same internal swagger as say…
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Don’t sweat the small stuff, they say. That’s good advice. Much of the time. But with SQL Server, the small stuff is worth sweating. In fact, the small stuff can be big. Letting the small stuff go In life, the small stuff can weigh you down. Worrying about things that don’t really matter can strip…
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How many tempdb data files should a SQL Server have? And where should they live? What about their growth settings? Should it be by percent? Or, should they grow by a certain size each time? Are there other tempdb configuration settings I should be concerned with? In short: how should I configure my SQL Server…
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