SQLServerCentral.com Articles tagged Administration

How to Change the SQL Server Name after Renaming the Windows Host

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:00:00 UT

This article shows how to change a SQL Server name after changing the Windows machine name.

Loginless In Seattle

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 UT

Identify orphaned Database Users and differentiate them from "Loginless" Database Users.

How to automate your .NET and SQL Server deployments
Deploy .NET code and SQL Server databases in a single repeatable process with Red Gate Deployment Manager. Start deploying with a 28-day trial

Throttle a Query in Mid-Execution

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:00:00 UT

Resource Governor provides a great mechanism for throttling resources, but it doesn't always allow granular control. Read about this trace flag that allows you to dynamically alter the resource usage of a query.

Resetting DMVs

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:00:00 UT

Steve Jones asks the question why so much data in SQL Server is cleared when we restart an instance.

Brent Ozar's Six Scary SQL Surprises

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:00:00 UT

In lesson 3 of the Top 5 Hard-earned Lessons of a DBA series, Brent Ozar exposes six common but scary surprises that can lurk behind the façade of SSMS. Read it now, and learn hard lessons the easy way.

How to automate your .NET and SQL Server deployments
Deploy .NET code and SQL Server databases in a single repeatable process with Red Gate Deployment Manager. Start deploying with a 28-day trial

Working with SQL Server Recovery Models

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 07:00:00 UT

The recovery models of SQL Server define how different backup and restore tasks will be performed on your database. When choosing a recovery model,

Troubleshooting and Fixing SQL Server Page Level Corruption

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:00:00 UT

Corrupt SQL Server databases are the worst nightmare of any SQL Server professional. In any environment, from small business to enterprise, the compromise of integrity and availability of the data can constitute a business emergency. This is especially the case in those organizations reliant on an OLTP data model, for a high-volume website. SQL Server database corruption and disruption of the transaction processing system can cause business repercussions such as large financial losses, a drop in reputation or customer retention, or contractual SLA problems with the service provider, if not managed in-house.

Moving Database Files in SQL Server

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:00:00 UT

A short article that talks about the isues with moving SQL Server database files around on your storage subsystem.

Evaluating Policies on Multiple SQL Server Instances using Central Management Server

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 07:00:00 UT

you have created a SQL Server Policy to check database recovery models. Now you need to check the databases on all of your SQL Server instances. In this tip we will show how you can evaluate a SQL Server policy against multiple instances.

SQLServerCentral Runs sp_Blitz - Performance Part 1

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:00:00 UT

The third article that examines the output of the sp_Blitz script™ run against SQLServerCentral's database servers.

How to automate your .NET and SQL Server deployments
Deploy .NET code and SQL Server databases in a single repeatable process with Red Gate Deployment Manager. Start deploying with a 28-day trial

SQLServerCentral Runs sp_Blitz - Reliability

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:00:00 UT

The second article that examines the output of the sp_Blitz script™ run against SQLServerCentral's database servers.

SQLServerCentral Runs sp_Blitz - Security

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:00:00 UT

A series that looks at the SQLServerCentral database servers using the Brent Ozar Unlimited sp_blitz script. Read about what we learned.

Disaster In The Real World - #2

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:00:00 UT

Back in April Steve Jones wrote up a disaster at work. Andy had one this week and wrote up the story too. Copy cat! Pretty soon everyone will be having a disaster and writing a story about it! Give these guys credit for letting you see what happens when it ALL goes bad. Disaster recovery is hard to sell and hard to do, reading the article might give you an idea that will save you some time and/or data one day.

Steps to add Log Shipping monitor into an existing SQL Server

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 07:00:00 UT

I have a requirement to add the Log Shipping Monitor for an existing installation. I have heard you can only complete this by rebuilding the Log Shipping infrastructure. Is that true? Are there any other options? In this tip I will explain how we can add the Log Shipping monitor to a SQL Server 2005, 2008, 2008 R2 or 2012 environment without rebuilding the Log Shipping installation.

Has tempdb grown since the last restart?

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:00:00 UT

Check tempdb to see if it has been autogrown since the last restart. If it has, there may be an opportunity to improve server performance.

Viewing VMware Counters in PerfMon for SQL Server

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 07:00:00 UT

I want to ensure that my SQL Server on a VMware Guest OS is getting the resources it should. This would go a long way towards helping isolate the performance problems we're experiencing. However, our system administrators won't give us access to VirtualCenter or any of the tools they use. Is there anything I can do? Check out this tip to learn more.

Manage By Delegation

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

There always seem to be more and more instances to manage, but not more and more staff. Steve Jones talks about the key to good management being delegation of the work.

Check SQL Server Virtual Log Files Using PowerShell

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

In a previous tip on Monitor Your SQL Server Virtual Log Files with Policy Based Management, we have seen how we can use Policy Based Management to monitor the number of virtual log files (VLFs) in our SQL Server databases. However, even with that most of the solutions I see online involve the creation of temporary tables and/or a combination of using cursors to get the total number of VLFs in a transaction log file. Is there a much easier solution?

Never update systems tables directly - a study in Agent job scheduling

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 06:00:00 UT

It is often recommended that system tables should not be updated directly. Presenting a case in point built around nightly job configuration in order to demonstrate the possible issues with updating system tables directly.

The DBA Database

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:00:00 UT

One very handy item Steve Jones found as a DBA was a DBA only database on each instance. Today he asks you if you have one and if not, why not. There are good reasons to have one, and security is usually not a problem.

Comparing Two Recordsets Using Powershell

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:00:00 UT

How can you quickly and easily compare recordsets from different instances? This article will show you a quick way to do this with PowerShell.

‘Disturbing Development’
Grant Fritchey & the DBA Team present the latest installment of the Top 5 hard-earned lessons of a DBA – read it now

Indexes, Indexes, Indexes

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 06:00:00 UT

This article has a description of an index utilization tool that Ron Johnson uses to analyze the effectiveness and use of indexes in a system.

Instant File Initialization and restores

Mon, 21 May 2012 06:00:00 UT

Instant file initialization also has its advantages when you restore a SQLServer database. This article will show you why.

Perform Routine Server Checks Using PowerShell

Mon, 21 May 2012 06:00:00 UT

Database administrators tend to perform a lot of routine checks, referred to as sanity checks, on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Rob Gravelle shows you how to write some PowerShell scripts to automate a couple of fairly common sanity checks.

Snapshot Isolation Level in SQL Server - What, Why and How - Part 1

Mon, 14 May 2012 06:00:00 UT

Snapshot isolation levels improve performance but there are some things to take into consideration when using this feature. Arshad Ali discusses what snapshot isolation levels are, their variants, and why and when we should use them.

The Real World: Fragmented Disk and High PAGEIOLATCH Waits

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:00:00 UT

This article decribes how defragementing a 900 GB drive assisted in addressing major performance issues on a reporting server.

Understanding Retention Periods for SQL Server Transactional Replication

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:00:00 UT

I have transactional replication configured in production. I have heard about the replication retention period, but what is the significance of this. Would there be any impact to my replication configuration if data is not synchronized with the subscriptions within the retention period?

The Best Database Administrators Automate Everything

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:00:00 UT

Do you understand the value of your time? I mean really understand it. Time is your absolute number one most valuable asset. Once it's gone, that's it, gone forever.

SQL Server Instant File Initialization (PQW)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:00:00 UT

In this article we’re going to look at instant file initialization. What it is, why it’s cool and how you can use it in your environments.

How to Document and Configure SQL Server Instance Settings

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:00:00 UT

There are around seventy SQL Server instance settings, and a DBA needs to be aware of the effect that many of them have. Brad McGehee explains them in enough detail to help with most common configuration problems, and suggests some best practices.