Jay's Blog
[coding, debugging, and troubleshooting with Microsoft Technologies]
Orphaned Locks - Idle Session - and XACT_ABORT
Sometimes you might see a situation where a session is holding locks, blocking other sessions for an...
Date: 10/08/2012
Sequence Objects in SQL 2012 and SQL 2008
Sequence Objects are new starting in SQL Server 2012. They work similarly to an...
Date: 10/08/2012
If a worker thread doesn’t yield, is it guaranteed to run?
Put another way, can Windows preempt our worker thread and perform a context switch even though it...
Date: 07/29/2012
Do waiting or suspended tasks tie up a worker thread?
I had a discussion the other day with someone about worker threads and their relation to tasks. I...
Date: 07/29/2012
Finding Missing Dependencies
While working with a customer on a SQL port, I came across a system view that was new with...
Date: 07/22/2012
Loading data with foreign keys
Working on a customer project the other day, I needed to load some data into a database that...
Date: 07/15/2012
Need to find the Database Version? Last Log Backup? Last DBCC execution? Ummm….
Backup software and Maintenance plans usually take care of tracking backup schedules and maintenance...
Date: 07/08/2012
Default Trace and System Health
So it’s been a little while since my last posting – actually a long while. Since my last post...
Date: 06/28/2012
How can I get a list of installed SQL Server instances?
Today we’ll talk about how we can get a list of locally installed SQL Server instances on a...
Date: 10/11/2011
Searching through the SQL Server Errorlogs
Sorry – It’s been a while since my last post. The past few months have been very busy for...
Date: 10/10/2011
Have you checked out Denali? CTP 3 is here…
Did you know that CTP3 for ‘Denali’ or SQL Server Version 11 is out? You can download it for...
Date: 08/02/2011
Troubleshooting Slow Disk I/O in SQL Server
If you suspect you are experiencing poor disk performance you can use internal DMVs combined with a...
Date: 07/08/2011
Using Windows 2008 R2 as a workstation (and a lab)
Lately there seems to be an increasing number of people that want to run Windows 2008 R2 Server as...
Date: 03/26/2011
Proper I/O Capacity Planning and Configuration Resources for SQL Server
To understand and perform proper IO Capacity Planning for SQL Server, you must understand the IO...
Date: 03/25/2011
Why is using “Instant File Initialization” on my SQL Server a potential security issue?
Starting in SQL Server 2005 and onward, data files can be “instantly” initialized. This helps...
Date: 03/11/2011
Required rights for SQL Server service account
This topic comes up from time to time in my daily support work, so I thought I would make a quick...
Date: 02/28/2011
Finding which queries were executing from a SQL Memory Dump – revisited
A message about the previous post on finding queries in a SQL Memory Dump file: Back in October I...
Date: 02/18/2011
Uninstalling a SQL Server Service Pack
Did you know that starting with service packs (Service Pack 1) in SQL Server 2008 you can uninstall...
Date: 02/07/2011
Using DBCC PAGE
DBCC PAGE is an undocumented – and unsupported – DBCC statement in SQL Server for dumping the raw...
Date: 02/05/2011
How does SQL Server perform deletes in my table?
In this post we’ll look at how SQL Server deletes records in a table. In this example, we’ll...
Date: 01/28/2011
Why do we need trace flag 3604 for DBCC statements?
For many DBCC statements, we need to enable trace flag 3604 before executing the DBCC command. ...
Date: 01/21/2011
What is a slot array?
What is a slot array? Though it sounds like a line of gambling machines at the nearest casino,...
Date: 01/07/2011
How do I find what queries were executing in a SQL memory dump?
NOTE: This post has been updated in a new post due to an issue found with the steps in this...
Date: 10/03/2010
Catching who dropped SQL Server logins
I recently had a situation where SQL server logins were getting deleted from the system and nobody...
Date: 10/01/2010
The parameters of xp_readerrorlog
I find that few people know xp_readerrorlog accepts parameters to help you mine information...
Date: 09/19/2010
How do I track this in my Stored Procedure? (Using a custom trace event)
It’s been a while since I’ve posted an entry as I’ve been busy with moving to a different...
Date: 09/10/2010
Cool Windows 7 Feature…
I’d have to say that one of my favorite new features from Windows 7 – that doesn’t...
Date: 04/28/2010
Creating a custom performance monitor counter for SQL Server
If you have ever needed to monitor a value in SQL Server, or follow the trend of anything that can...
Date: 02/18/2010
How do I set a breakpoint in a CLR Stored Procedure already deployed and running on a live SQL Server and debug is using Visual Studio?
For information on setup and debugging a CLR stored procedure in a direct-debug scenario by...
Date: 02/07/2010
How can I create a dump of SQL Server?
You can create a memory dump of the SQL Server process space in several ways. There are many...
Date: 02/05/2010
What do I need to know to be good at debugging?
From time to time I will get this question from people learning to debug application code. Debugging...
Date: 02/03/2010
Basic Debugging Concepts and Setup - Part 2 (Basic & Common Commands)
So if you read my previous post on Basic Debugging Concepts and Setup, you are familiar with how to...
Date: 02/01/2010
Windows 7 God Mode
Was browsing through my RSS feeds today and saw this on Channel 9:...
Date: 01/19/2010
Basic Debugging Concepts and Setup
In my blog, from time to time I will rely on debugging to explain or prove out a concept. In this...
Date: 12/29/2009
Hello World
Welcome to my MSDN blog. I am excited at the prospect of contributing to the MSDN community and...
Date: 10/05/2009
Test entry
This is a test entry to make sure Live Writer is working – please ignore
Date: 10/03/2009