Sql Stuff
Ramblings of all kinds of Sql related tasks - usually related to customer questions, problems, etc. (that's what I do and all)
Moving Blog...
Due to a few different reasons, I'll be moving my blog from here at MSDN to the following location....
Date: 10/17/2007
Non-technical - big news for Chad, he's getting married
So, I think most of my close friends have heard by now, but if you are a friend, and you haven't...
Date: 08/21/2007
sp_who for Sql 2005 (sp_who2k5)
I get many requests from customers for something like sp_who/sp_who2 for Sql 2005 with new...
Date: 08/15/2007
Katmai (Sql 2008) - Group By Sets
With Sql 2008 (in the current CTP you have in your hand), thanks to a new extension to the group by...
Date: 07/29/2007
Katmai (Sql 2008) - Data Compression (including Backup Compression)
This post will cover an initial overview of the data compression feature that will be included in...
Date: 07/27/2007
Katmai (Sql 2008) - The List of New Features
So, I've been getting quite a few pings about providing a list of new features to look for in Katmai...
Date: 07/26/2007
Katmai - Did you know? Inline variable initialization and Compound assignment
In Sql 2008 (Katmai), a couple of the 'smaller' features that are currently in the latest CTP...
Date: 07/25/2007
Katmai / Sql Server 2008 Presentations in the DC area (novaSql, caparea.net, CMAP)
In August, September, and October I'll be presenting on Sql Server 2008 (Katmai) at a variety of...
Date: 07/18/2007
So you think you know SQL...Administration Part I
So you think you know SQL...Administration Part I The 2nd in the series...this one revolves around...
Date: 07/17/2007
So you think you know SQL...Concurrency and Locking
The first in hopefully a fairly long series of posts on interview type questions/scenarios/etc.,...
Date: 05/29/2007
So you think you know SQL...
I'm frequently asked about questions that are asked when interviewing candidates for Sql Server...
Date: 05/29/2007
Large log backups with bulk operations and read-only databases
So, here's an interesting scenario I ran into a few weeks back. A customer had a situation in which...
Date: 05/14/2007
SERIALIZABLE isolation level (serialized transactions) and duplicate key insertion attempts
I ran into an interesting scenario with a customer this past week that behaved a bit differently...
Date: 04/18/2007
Non-Unique Clustered Index and Duplicate Value limits...
I spent this past week with a customer giving a workshop covering Sql 2000 architecture and...
Date: 04/08/2007
CMAP CodeCamp in Baltimore Area
Well, I'm now also presenting at the CMAP Code Camp the week following the NOVA CodeCamp, so, if...
Date: 04/06/2007
NOVA Code Camp in DC
If you're in the DC/NOVA area (or even some parts of Maryland for that matter), I'll be presenting 2...
Date: 03/30/2007
PAE and /3GB and AWE oh my...
Many customers (and non-customers) are often confused about all the different memory configurations...
Date: 03/24/2007
What indexes are used most often (or least often) on my server?
A customer this past week was curious how to determine which indexes on their server were being used...
Date: 03/11/2007
Sql 2005 Dynamic Memory Managment with AWE enabled
Earlier this week I had a customer send me the following question: I have a server running the...
Date: 03/08/2007
Sorting and comparing unicode and binary data - why do I get a weird sort order?
A customer recently questioned me regarding a sorting issue they were having in the following...
Date: 03/08/2007
How does AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS_ASYNC work with Sql 2005?
A customer this week inquired about auto updating of statistics in Sql 2005, particularly with...
Date: 03/03/2007
What is a hobt_id in Sql 2005?
The same customer that promted the post of mine titled "How can I get sysindexes information in Sql...
Date: 02/24/2007
How can I get sysindexes information in Sql 2005?
A customer asked me today how they could retrieve information similar to that available in the...
Date: 02/24/2007
Row sizes exceeding 8060 bytes in Sql 2005
A customer I work with questioned me today in regards to hearing that in Sql 2005 you can now have...
Date: 02/24/2007
SP2 Rollback requires complete reinstallation
With the releast of SP2 for Sql 2005, a customer asked me today what they need to consider as a...
Date: 02/21/2007
NULL database name values? Database ID of 32,767? What is going on here?
I had a customer inquire as to why they would see results from queries like the following where the...
Date: 02/02/2007
sys.dm_os_buffer_descriptors aggregations
Lots of customers I visit are frequently interested in determining what...
Date: 02/02/2007
How to determine service-related priviledges for Sql Server service account
I had a customer inquire as to how to verify service-related permissions for the Sql Server service...
Date: 02/02/2007
Finding (all the) gaps in an identity column (or any integer based column for that matter) using Sql 2005
We're often asked how to determine gaps in an identity column. For Sql 2000, there are quite a few...
Date: 01/07/2007
Sql Server CPU licensing, edition support, and multi-core technology
Q: In addition to hyper-threading and dual-core technology, chip vendors are beginning to release...
Date: 01/05/2007
Login failures connecting to new principal after failover using Database Mirroring
Q: I have configured Database Mirroring successfully between 2 Sql Server 2005 instances. My...
Date: 01/05/2007
Sql Server and the new Daylight Savings Time changes
Q: Given the forthcoming updates to Daylight Savings Time to comply with the Energy Policy Act of...
Date: 01/05/2007