Are you a seasoned DBA that’s feeling a bit stagnant? Or maybe a junior DBA who wants to elevate her DBA game? Perhaps, you’re an “Accidental DBA,” someone whose primary role is something besides DBA yet you’re being asked to take care of the database in your spare time? Wherever you are in your career,…
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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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Some companies take virtual machine snapshots of their web servers, their file servers, and their Citrix servers. They regularly snapshot before software patching, before server upgrades, and before other configuration changes. Snapshotting a good way to ensure they can recover the VM if something goes wrong. So, that begs the question: should you use VM…
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Cumulative Updates, CUs, are the way bug fixes and other improvements are released for SQL Server. These updates can make your SQL Servers more secure, they can fix performance issues, and they can make your system more reliable. But, as with any new code, they can sometimes introduce new issues. It’s not often that this…
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Halfway through my morning walk, I look up and see this amazing view. No filter needed. It was naturally stunning. I just stood there a moment soaking in the majesty of the view. The wisp of the clouds, the vibrancy of the colors, the reflection of the water. It was beautiful. And I almost missed…
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“I bought some instant water one time but I didn’t know what to add to it.” – Steven Wright, comedian. I’ve always like Steven Wright‘s dry sense of humor and comedic timing. He’s got a lot of other great quotes similar to this one. Ok. But how does this relate to SQL Server? What’s really…
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Users are complaining. One of your SQL Servers is not just slow, but slooooooooooooooooowwwwwww. A 6-syllable slow. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had SQL Servers that are underperforming. But where do you start with performance tuning? Let’s look to a proven approach for decision-making and troubleshooting as our guide – the OODA Loop. The…
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“My SQL Server hasn’t had any problems. It just works. Do I still need a SQL Server Health Check?” The TL;DR answer is yes, it’s good to check on your SQL Server regularly. SQL Server just works, but… The SQL Server development team has done a great job. They’ve created a database platform that is…
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Let’s have a look at implicit type conversions and how they can affect SQL Server’s performance. What are type conversions? Let’s start with the basics. What are data type conversions? (If you’re well-versed in this, feel free to skip ahead a bit.) SQL Server works with different types of data. It works with numbers, character…
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