This is a very cool and useful tip if you find yourself locked out of the sysadmin role in sql server.

I have a SQL Server instance with the sa account disabled and all other logins removed to simulate a situation were I am locked out of SQL Server. My… Read more

I came across an issue today where a backup process was in a blocked state with a wait type of MSSEARCH. The issue boiled down to an issue with communication/contention between the SQL Server engine service and the SQL Server Full Text Search service.

An attempt to kill the backup… Read more

A while ago I blogged about instant file initialization. A colleague of mine pointed out that there is a small but non-zero risk involved with using this setting.

So I decided to put a demo together to test out the security risks involved.

I have a default instance and… Read more

While researching the steps required to service pack SQL Server on an active active cluster I came across a lot of conflicting information. Here are the steps I ultimately followed for an error and issue free update.

1. Make a note of all node names (and/or IP addresses), SQL Server… Read more

The other day I was asked to restore a production database into a development environment and then check the database permissions. So after restoring the database I ran

use 'database name' 
exec sp_change_users_login 'report'

to see if there were any orphaned users. This came back clean so I informed the… Read more