Tag: SQL Audit

Vintage databases are not as good as vintage cars

Should I Upgrade SQL Servers that Are Out of Support?

Do All SQL Servers Need to Be Upgraded? Running production systems on a platform that is no longer supported by the vendor is worrisome. If something goes wrong, you’ll no longer be able to call the vendor and receive technical support. But worse, you’ll no longer release updates, fixes, security patches, etc, for the out…
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A properly configured SQL Server is like a well tuned race engine.

Identify Disk I/O Performance Issues for Your SQL Server Using DiskSpd

“We need faster storage.” Sound familiar? Or what about “No, the storage is good; we need to tune the database.” Often teams will have very different opinions about the root cause of a performance issue. Microsoft’s free DiskSpd utility can help identify disk I/O performance issues for your SQL server systems. Here’s a short introduction…
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Hands of a Hacker

Protect Your SQL Server from MrbMiner and Other Malware Attacks

Unfortunately malware attacks attempting to exploit vulnerable SQL Servers are often successful. Last spring, Guardicore announced that the Vollgar attack that was making its way around the internet. Just last month, it was MrbMiner in the news. And there have been countless other attacks targeting SQL Server over the year. So, how can your protect…
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Vollgar: 6 Scripts to Help Review Your SQL Servers

Last week, Guardicore released information about a newly discovered attack that uses SQL Servers to compromise servers and networks. Here’s a link; I’d really encourage you to read it. The attack known as Vollgar uses a simple brute force attack to gain access to SQL Servers exposed to the internet. It then uses the elevated…
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How Many tempdb Data Files Should My SQL Server Have?

We’re frequently asked how many tempdb files a SQL Server should have, especially from those who have downloaded our free 5 Common SQL Server Configuration Issues PDF. That’s because there’s a lot of well-intended but incorrect information posted on the internet about tempdb.  What Is tempdb? Let’s start with a very brief description of tempdb. When SQL…
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Why 9 Out of 10 SQL Servers Aren’t Configured with Best Practices

“The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from,” quipped renown computer scientist Andrew Tanenbaum. In the SQL Server world, we have industry best practices. These are guidelines that most every knowledgeable database professional will agree is a good idea or a good baseline. Sure there are exceptions, specific tweaks…
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