I’ve been working with SQL Server for a very long time. Out of the box, SQL Server works great, however there is regular care and feeding that needs to be done to ensure it is running optimally. One of the best analogies is to think about an automobile or airplane and how they need to […]
How to Protect Against Ransomware as a DBA
Over the years I’ve been called in to work with numerous clients that were hit with ransomware. Even the times that the customer paid the ransom to unlock their encrypted files, there were still issues. Often times there were still issues with the files where they will not restore or data/log files can’t attach to […]
SQL Server Error 9002 – Full Transaction Log
A full transaction log can occur for a number of reasons. Typically it is due to the log not being truncated with regular transaction log backups, or something else not allowing the log to truncate. I often find Change Data Capture enabled and the jobs not running, SQL Server Replication in place and replication not […]
SQL Best Practices
SQL Server has evolved a great deal since I first started working with SQL Server 6.5 in 1998. Unfortunately I continually come across newer systems that are configured with old ‘best practices’. Things like 1 tempdb file per core, 1 core per socket on VMware machines, index rebuilds each night, and more. Below are some […]
It is Work to Live not Live to Work
In the United States, we have our Thanksgiving this month. This is a time where families come together for a huge meal. For many, it is a time to see family and friends they haven’t seen in months and to reflect on what they are thankful for. For some families, it is time for them […]
Msg 3140 – Could Not Adjust the Space Allocation for File
I often need to shrink database files. I know, ‘shrinking is bad’, however there are situations where it is very much needed. In my line of work, I come across databases that have been collecting data for year after year after year. One of the things I check for is the largest tables in databases. […]
Why You Need a SQL DBA or Consultant
Many organizations do not have in-house DBAs. This can be due to a number of reasons. Most commonly it is smaller organizations that cannot justify a full time DBA. Others are larger organizations that do more development work or organizations that run a lot of vendor supported software that don’t understand the value of having […]
Your SQL Server is Slow, What To Look At
As a data professional, you’ll often get a phone call, email, or trouble ticket that says “SQL Server is slow, my query is slow, or things are slow”. This is the dreadful comment that we all receive from time to time and it never provides any detail of ‘what’ is slow. Where do you start […]