What TOOLS do you include in your production SQL builds?

  • Where I work, once a server is "in production" I can't make *any* changes like installing software, not even stored procedures, or a DBA database. Nothing. (not without going through a terrible approval process, and then the answer is almost always NO.)

    But what I can do is include such software/scripts when I write my build documents. No one actually ever reads them, so that's how I can sneak in basically whatever I want. The document is approved, I build the production server, and presto! My tools are included. (I can still run ad-hoc SQL queries, by many of the more powerful tools are SPs or Jobs, etc)

    So here are some of the "tools" I do/will include in all future builds.

    Do y'all do something similar? What do you include in your builds?

    Who is Active?

    Who is Active? is a comprehensive server activity stored procedure based on the SQL Server 2005 and 2008 dynamic management views (DMVs). Think of it as sp_who2 on a hefty dose of anabolic steroids......

    http://sqlblog.com/files/10/default.aspx

    SQL Server 2008 Diagnostic Information Queries

    https://sqlserverperformance.wordpress.com/[/url]

    Detect Worst Performing SQL Queries

    ...how to detect worst performing sql queries which is slowing down Microsoft SQL Server...

    http://www.sqlfeatures.com/2012/01/29/detect-worst-performing-sql-queries/...[/url]

    A Better sp_who2 using DMVs (sp_who3)

    The following code generates the same information found in sp_who2, along with some additional troubleshooting information.

    http://sqlserverplanet.com/dba/a-better-sp_who2-using-dmvs-sp_who3

    Ola Hallengren - SQL Server Backup, Integrity Check, and Index and Statistics Maintenance

    The SQL Server Maintenance Solution comprises scripts for running backups, integrity checks, and index and statistics maintenance on all editions of Microsoft SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, and SQL Server 2012.

    http://ola.hallengren.com/[/url]

    Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Performance Dashboard Reports (Google the 2005 version if you need it, which I think works with 2008)

    The SQL Server 2012 Performance Dashboard Reports are Reporting Services report files designed to be used with the Custom Reports feature of SQL Server Management Studio.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29063

  • Here are a couple other tools.

    Again, I can't change anything on Prod servers, even configuring MDW isn't allowed, and I've found it to be extremely useful...

    Configure the Management Data Warehouse (SQL Server Management Studio)

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb933864.aspx

    Here is the original Performance Dashboard Reports, for SQL 2005...

    SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=22602

    Here is the modification you need to do to get Performance Dashboard Reports to work in SQL 2008...

    Performance Dashboard Reports -- for SQL 2008

    https://blogs.technet.com/b/rob/archive/2009/02/18/performance-dashboard-reports-for-sql-server-2008.aspx?Redirected=true

    http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/2896/where-do-i-find-the-performance-dashboard-for-sql-server-2008/[/url]

    https://blogs.msdn.com/b/vascov/archive/2008/09/30/using-performance-dashboard-with-sql-server-2008.aspx?Redirected=true

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