SQL Server

Databases With Large Tables Should Use Auto Stats Async Update Feature

A pretty cool feature that was introduced in SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 is the ability to change the auto stats algorithm from the default of 20%+500 rows to a sliding scale. ...

Why More People Should Be Working From Home

As database professionals there isn't much of a reason that we actual need to go into the office, other than to make other people in the office feel better because we are actually there in person.  In practice we don't ever need to actually touch the physical hardware.  Meeting can easily enough...

Fixing a table that has overflowed its primary key

During TechEd Europe I got a very scary phone call.  A very large table was throwing errors that the value being inserted into the primary key column was overflowing the data type that makes up that column.  In this case the data type in question was INT, so we were trying to stick the number...

Backup Databases on Creation

One of the companies which I work with has the occasion to create new databases when they do releases of their software.  Normally this isn't a problem, except that they are setup to use maintenance plans to handle the backup and pruning of their transaction logs.  As all the new databases are...

SQL PASS Day 1 Keynote

Today was the 1st day of the SQL PASS Summit and the keynote was full of some great announcements and demos.  The keynotes are a massive with almost all of the 3894 conference attendees from 57 different countries.

All of the keynotes from this years conference not only are the...

Passive AlwaysOn Replicas, not as free as you might think

With the release of SQL Server 2012 and specifically the AlwaysOn feature we need to rethink the way that we handle the licensing for servers that will be passive servers.  In the past it's been assumed that passive servers didn't need to be licensed, and that was true, for the most part.  The...

Lugging fuel up stairs shouldn’t have been needed

While I applaud the hard work and ingenuity of the sysadmins who works through the days after hurricane Sandy to keep the generators running, one thing kept coming to my mind.  Why...

You aren’t going to want to miss #sqlkaraoke at the #sqlpass #summit12.

Like every year at Bush Garden in the international district of Seattle, WA the SQL PASS community will descend onto Bush Garden at 9:30pm Wednesday night...

Now that it’s too late, what DR prep can we do today?

While preparing for a major disaster is what should be done ahead of time, that's a little...

I Hope Everyone on the East Coast has a DR Plan

With hurricane Sandy dropping into the East Coast of the US this week this is a perfect time to think about DR plans.  DR planning isn't something that people should take personally when it is brought...