As DBAs we try our best to appropriately size a SQL Servers to match the anticipated load. But things change over time and we may find that some databases are overloading the server. When it's time to move your database to a new home on another server, Paul Mu brings us a technique for doing so.   Read more...

Monitoring in the real world. Roy Carlson concludes his series on space monitoring for your SQL Servers with a real world example of how he found a problem and fixed it.   Read more...

Trending the size data for your databases can be crucial when ordering new hardware or just ensuring that you can handle the load. In Part 3, Roy Carlson looks at how you get the sizes needed for your instances into Excel and generate a chart for trending of this important piece of performance data.   Read more...

Continuing with his series on monitoring space, Roy Carlson looks at checking the space in a folder to be sure your SQL Server databases never run out of storage.   Read more...

Monitoring the file sizes and free space on your SQL Server can be done in a number of ways, but it needs to be done or you will get a phone call when you least expect it. In an interesting read, Roy Carlson brings us a great way with code and reporting to setup your own monitoring system.   Read more...

It's small and neat but it might just save your data...Robyn Page's crib sheet tells you everything you wanted to know about SQL Server backup but were afraid to ask.  Read more...

It is not recommended, but there is quite a bit of valuable information stored in the SQL Server 2000 system tables. Raj Vasant brings us a look at some of the information that you can get by directly querying the system tables and explains what is stored in a number of them, including gathering information about computed columns.   Read more...

The .NET Framework 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 make it easy to create a basic but extensible database-monitoring solution without a lot of complexity or coding.   Read more...

Scripting out your SQL Server 2000 objects is useful in any number of ways. You can save off the scripts for version control, generate the scripts needed to migrate to new hardware or a new environment, or just package up your application for deployment. Jon Reade brings us a look at the SCPTXFR utility, which can prove very valuable in managing your scripts.   Read more...

In the second of a series of articles that targets the DBA new to an organization, this article looks at how to manage DTS packages.   Read more...

The SQL Server tools are top notch and often other platforms attempt to duplicate their handiness. Enterprise Manager is one that every DBA uses and it can perform a myriad of functions to configure your server. Read this new article by Dale Elizabeth Corey that looks that the wide range of items in the Configuration Properties of this tool.   Read more...

Most DBAs manage multiple SQL servers, each handling different needs for your business. Even with the diverse uses for different servers, there is often the need to deploy the same scripts to all servers for various purposes. Author Joe Doherty brings us his scripts and technique for executing a script across multiple servers.   Read more...

Longtime author Leo Peysakhovich answers one of the most common questions seen in discussion areas around the world: how do you identify unused objects?   Read more...

Learn how to use ALERTs, a SQL Agent job and a stored procedure (SP) to create a copy of your critical database backups on another physical machine as soon as the database backups are created.  Read more...

Have you ever needed to build a job that could run within a certain period of time? Those long maintenance operations, like index rebuilds, need to fit within certain windows of time. New author Joe Doherty brings us a great technique for ensuring those jobs do not run over into your business day and impact normal operations.   Read more...

Are you frustrated by the limitations of the MMC console when managing dozens or hundreds or servers? The way Enterprise Manager is fitted into the framework can be a problem for DBAs with lots of servers. Jereme Guenther brings us a technique for his own console that solves some of the limitations of MMC.   Read more...

Ensuring that your disk subsystem performs well and does not run out of space is a balancing act that many DBAs learn over time through trial and "out of space" errors. New author Arindam Banerjee takes a look at some of the things to consider when capacity planning.   Read more...

Sizing a database can be one of the most arduous tasks a DBA, analyst or developer must attend to. It?s time consuming and more hours go into analyzing the database than actually sizing it. This article focuses on how to monitor the database?s growth after its deployed and contains some tips on how to size it before deployment. We will also dive a little into how to benchmark your database against a robust data load.   Read more...

Have you ever used XP_RESULTSET in SQL Server? If you're like most DBAs, this procedure is rarely used and can be a little complicated to setup. New author J. T. Shyman brings us a look at just how useful this command can be in executing a command on every database.   Read more...

Attaching and detaching databases is old hat these days right? Do you know how to reattach a database that has more than 16 files? Or do you know what happens if you try to reattach a database that had two log files but one is missing/deleted? And even if you know the answer to that - do you know how to fix it without restoring from backup? Maybe it's not ALL old hat just yet!   Read more...