It’s a trick question, yes. Your SQL Server version matters! In this post I’ll tell you how to check your version, talk about what makes up the version number and talk about why it matters so much and why you should get a plan in place to regularly upgrade or update SQL Server. This post is part of … Read more
Today Microsoft just made a huge announcement. All of the features you can build into your databases in SQL Server (well the vast majority at least) are no longer just included in Enterprise Editions. There are some exceptions… But the main point here is – you can be on SQL Server Standard – and you can use … Read more
I can’t do a series on free SQL Server DBA tools without including the SQL Server First Responder Kit put out by Brent Ozar and his company (and the SQL Family who helped)! This is that post. A couple weeks ago, I was inspired to start this blog series because of an amazing PowerShell module … Read more
When we do a SQL Server Health Assessment, we quickly dive into SQL Server performance and Windows/Physical/Virtual resource usage counters. During our kick off interview we always ask if you have a SQL Server baseline from the past to compare. Usually the answer is no, unfortunately. Like monitoring and alerting, many of the tools vendors make automated baseline collection tools. Also like alerting, though, … Read more
Last week I bragged about an amazing PowerShell module I’ve recently fallen in love with. Today I’m going to talk about the script that, in a roundabout way, made me discover that tool. This is a great script from an extremely knowledgeable and helpful member of the SQL Server family, Robert Davis. Free SQL Server … Read more
I live in New England. I expect snow in the winter. This winter, though, has been a bit of an anomaly from recent winters for us. We started out with very little snow, abnormally little snow. But then it came (and it is still coming) all at once. Over about 4ish weeks we had a … Read more
Last week, I ripped a story from the headlines to draw lessons for Technologists from – it was about the Secret Service lapses that allowed a fence jumper to get into the threshold of the White House residence. That was bad. This week, though, we’ve learned of some additions to the story that makes it … Read more