SQL Server Log File Full at 2 TB Max with CDC: How We Recovered
May 16, 2026
Quick summary For several versions of SQL Server, the maximum log file size was noted at 2 TB. If you ever reach that limit you could find yourself in a Disaster Recovery scenario. Context We received an emergency call from a client that noted that their SQL Server instances was unresponsive. (This was an Amazon
Updates for all sp_Check tools – April 2026
April 30, 2026
It’s time again for our monthly updates of our FREE sp_Check stored procedures, so here are the April updates. This month we have way more updates than in March, including recommendations from the Issues section of GitHub, so thank you to all who contributed! We also have been working on the content pages referenced by
Updates for all sp_Check tools – March 2026
March 31, 2026
As promised last month, we are planning for (at least) monthly updates of our FREE sp_Check stored procedures, so here are the March updates. This month we did change the “ReadMore” URL links in the results of all tools to not use redirects. This might have been causing issues for folks who just wanted some
SQL Server Case of the Week: Databases in a “Recovery Pending” state don’t always require surgery
March 27, 2026
You get an alert that there are one or more databases in a “Recovery Pending” state. This means the database started but could not complete the recovery pending process for some unknown reason. It is stuck in this state and unusable until recovery can be completed. The Investigation After receiving the alert, I verified that
Updates for all sp_Check tools – February 2026
February 28, 2026
It’s been very humbling to get so much encouraging feedback about our sp_Check tools from so many of you, especially for our latest tool sp_CheckAG. What started with a new security check tool (sp_CheckSecurity) has grown to four publicly released tools (including sp_CheckBackup and sp_CheckTempdb) that can help SQL Server professionals with both troubleshooting and
SQL Server Case of the Week: The tempdb Data File That Couldn’t Be Removed
January 23, 2026
Summary of tempdb data file issue It’s important to keep the data files in tempdb equally sized, because SQL Server’s internal algorithm wants to use tempdb files that have the most space. Equal sizes help you get equal distribution across all files, reducing the likelihood of contention on a single file. Context: Mismatched tempdb data
Introducing sp_CheckAG: Check Your SQL Server Availability Groups for Availability Issues
January 21, 2026
SQL Server Availability Groups can be a great feature to help support your High Availability needs, but what happens when they fail to work as expected? Do you have an expiring certificate on used by an endpoint? Do you have timeout settings that could contribute to unexpected failovers? Are you suffering from a high number
Updates and improvements to sp_CheckSecurity
October 15, 2025
It’s been a while since we made some improvements to the public version of sp_CheckSecurity, but internally we’ve been busy fine tuning checks and adding even more to discover potential vulnerabilities in your SQL Server instances. Today we’re announcing a new version that includes additions, corrections, and a few other adjustments that should be helpful.
Updates and improvements to sp_CheckBackup
July 28, 2025
Since we introduced sp_CheckBackup last year we’ve gotten some great feedback on ways to improve this tool that helps you quickly and easily review the backup history for your SQL Server databases. We’ve even noticed a few things ourselves that we wanted to change as we used it more internally here at Straight Path Solutions.