Your Biggest SQL Server Security Vulnerability Is Your sysadmin Role Members [30 SQL Server Security Checks in 30 Days]

June 2, 2024

This post is part of our SQL Server security blog series, 30 SQL Server Security Checks in 30 Days. We’re publishing a new security check every day in the month of June. Visit our sp_CheckSecurity page to learn about our free SQL Server tool you can download and run to check your own server. It

SQL Server Tool Update: sp_CheckSecurity version 1.1

May 31, 2024

Since releasing our initial version of sp_CheckSecurity, we have received quite a bit of feedback. Thank you for all the emails, blog comments, and issues noted in GitHub, that have all been helpful in directing us towards making this SQL Server tool more useful. Today we are announcing the release of version 1.1, available for download

Introducing sp_CheckSecurity

April 17, 2024

Are your SQL Servers secure? With new threats to your data emerging daily, it’s a difficult question to answer. And what is even included in the word “secure”? Sure, maybe you’re confident you have security against hacking (or maybe not?), but what about internal security? Are you protected against oops moments? Are there elevated permissions

Make SQL Server Database Restores Easy With sp_DatabaseRestore

August 16, 2023

If you’ve read the Straight Path blog for any period of time, you’ve probably noticed more than a few posts about database backups. You may have also noticed we’re big fans of the Ola Hallengren Maintenance Solution for backups, which creates stored procedures and jobs to handle your regular backups. These scripts and jobs are

7 Common SQL Server Transaction Log Myths

March 28, 2023

SQL Server is a complicated piece of software, so it’s understandable that some of us have some misconceptions about what the transaction log is and what it does. This post is designed to not just tell you about these myths, but also to show you a few ways how to prove (or rather disprove) some

10 Free SQL Server Resources We Love

February 16, 2023

Featured image photo by Susan Holt Simpson on Unsplash Checking in in March of 2026: Yup, we still love all of these tools. Everybody loves freebies, and the SQL Server community is full of them. Free scripts, stored procedures, blog posts, books, and helpful advice from some of the smartest minds are all available to

5 common Problems to Troubleshoot with sp_WhoIsActive in SQL Server

January 31, 2023

Fix blocking, full logs, tempdb bloat, memory waits, and “what’s running now” in minutes with these five sp_WhoIsActive commands. Use this tool today to solve your own SQL Server issues. Need more help? We can help with our SQL Server Consulting services or our DBA services. 5 Common SQL Server Problems to Fix with sp_WhoIsActive

6 Common Mistakes Made With SQL Server Backups

December 12, 2022

People are always saying things about the importance of data, like how it is the lifeblood of a business. It sounds cliché, but there’s a lot of truth to that. You and I can’t survive without any blood, and there’s a good chance your business wouldn’t exist for long if they suddenly lost all their

6 Common Pitfalls of SQL Server Migrations and Upgrades

November 30, 2022

If you’ve ever tried migrating a SQL Server database from one server to another, you know it can be a white-knuckle ride from start to finish. You need to wait forever while you backup and restore, change all your connection strings to point to the new server, and forget to change the data sources for