Regular Columnist: Tony Davis

Tony describes in more detail the SIMPLE recovery model, and the way it works, its advantages and disadvantages.  Read more...

This article discusses the different types of backup and recovery models and gives the essential facts that will guide you to being able to achieve a recovery of a database to a point in time.  Read more...

In order to make it easier to understand truncation, space reuse and fragmentation in the log file, Tony gives a brief explanation of how the transaction log works.  Read more...

The transaction log is used by SQL Server to maintain data consistency and integrity. If the database is not in Simple-recovery mode, it can also be used in an appropriate backup regime to restore the database to a point in time.  Read more...

Any DBA who has been bitten by these subtle data integrity issues, or reports that erratically produce the wrong results, will know how much careful testing is involved in mitigating them.   Read more...

For many, there is something disconcerting in the idea of the Query Optimizer; they crave control, but it really is best to take a back seat and let the Optimizer do its job.  Read more...

There still seems to be a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt, in the community, with regard to use of Hyper-threading (HT) with SQL Server workloads. So, how and when should it be used?   Read more...

Given that disk storage has come down substantially in price over recent years, will RAID 5 continue to be relevant as a storage configuration for databases?  Read more...

If SSDs are about to make obsolete one of the major driving forces behind the development of SANs (disk latency) then how is the storage array going to change in the near future?  Read more...

You believe that an index is unused and so could be removed, and yet, your finger hovers nervously over the metaphorical "delete" button. You can't quite bring yourself to do it. Is it really safe to drop this index? Tony wonders if "invisible indexes" might solve this dilemma.  Read more...

Many of the SQL Server DMVs still have a wild, unfinished feel but they are an incredibly useful tool for DBA, well-worth the sweat and toil required to learn and query them effectively.   Read more...

There is much sound advice suggesting that every table should have a clustered index, and that narrow, integer, ever-increasing columns, such as afforded by an IDENTITY column are the best choice. But is the sedimentary approach really the natural order of the day?  Read more...

Sometimes it's important for a developer or DBA to be given the opportunity to 'shake up their brain'. What falls out is almost always worth having.  Read more...

All defensive programmers should, in general, avoid unsupported techniques. However, there is a balance to be struck between adherence to 'best practice' approaches to SQL programming, and the need to get the job done. Perhaps certain critical code would benefit from use of the age-old practice of double entry bookkeeping?  Read more...

Tony Davis believes that it's time for a little more openness and democracy in the MVP award. In short, it's time to introduce community voting.  Read more...

Earlier this week, Jeff Atwood suffered the sort of misfortune we all dread: hard drive failure and no backups. Tony Davis discusses what can be learned from this in terms of the chain of responsibility for an organization's data.  Read more...

Some developers have reacted with dismay to the recent news that Microsoft’s Oslo project is being integrated into the SQL Server platform and renamed SQL Server Modeling. The overwhelming feeling seems to be that their DSL dream is being snatched away.  Read more...

The next time you are tempted to hammer a performance problem with hardware, why not instead invest that time in hammering and refining your SQL queries? There are rich rewards to be had.  Read more...

Microsoft is very willing to lend its ear to new feature requests, but sometimes forgets to finish off the ones we've got.  Read more...

The Maintenance Plan wizard offers a quick and simple route to make sure essential database maintenance tasks are performed and scheduled. However, it needs to be used with a lot of care, and is no substitute for the judgment, experience and common sense of a flesh and blood DBA.  Read more...