Here's the useful join from a number of Index related DMVs - it grabs the top 50 possible missing indexes ordered by priority

select top 50 priority = avg_total_user_cost * avg_user_impact *(user_seeks + user_scans)
,d.statement
,d.equality_columns Read more

I've uploaded to SkyDrive a complete step by step guide for a SQL Server 2008 R2 installation because I prefer to see this done correctly than butchered, hope it helps save some time for those dealing with this vast task, including how to install a service pack and where to… Read more

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Yes, SQL Server 2008 SP3 is out ...

TechDays 2011 SQL Server and Data Platform Track Read more

Managing SQL Server in a Virtual World Notes (View Complete Slide Show)
Hosted by MVP Kevin Kline, Quest Software
Guest presenter Jason Hall, SQL Server consultant to Quest software

How to optimize your SQL Server licensing with VMware, since most SQL VMs are on VMware ESX platform: http://communities.vmware.com/message/1075017 Read more

 
After having spent much time attempting to settle a point regarding my favourite pastime of provincial politics, it has come to my attention that there is a neglected readership here, which I do regret sincerely. Thus, ever interested to right what is wrong, I wish to dive right back…

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If you ever want to validate what level of access a user has within a database OR wish to temporarily give elevated access to a database user’s object code (e.g. within a stored procedure) and not provide them directly with the privileges, you can profit from the Execute As Read more

After several days research, I have been trying to get a rough estimate on how many Full Time Employees are allocated per number of database users and/or servers.

Yes, I understand there are so many variables, considering that one database can be left alone for years perhaps thanks to proper… Read more

The following is a combination of notes from Wes Brown’s presentation today, with edited details from his http://sqlserverio.com/ post on this subject, and my own notes and comments from the webinar this afternoon at 3-4pm. Wes, approving of this write up, also provided PDFs+PPT links for this presentation (I have… Read more

A couple of years back, in the heart of the economic tsunami, I proposed a list of pro-active steps to reduce long-term costs associated with the management of your SQL Server database systems.  An Updated list is below.  

Normally, I would be putting out a new content, but… Read more

Part - 07 Exerpts from "The Tyranny of Bill-101" - Part 07

Commenting on how frustrating it is for DBAs to deal with a corrupt Judicial System that attacks victims of White Collar Crime, and specifically this decision, that doesn't recognise what our role is with relation to database… Read more

I’m part of a Committee that is dedicated to eliminating discriminatory legislation in Quebec, here’s a statement we released last week after a Death Threat from the one-man show Quebec Militia ‘Major’ Provost:

The goal of our Greater Montreal Multi-Ethnic Territory Committee to Abolish Bill 101, is begin the… Read more

For over a week now, Canada has begun its return to appearing to be a democracy thanks to a Liberal No Confidence Motion on Friday, March 25th.  On March 9th, I warned several key Liberal MPs to be very prepared for such a motion because of the backfire… Read more

 
How to Counter Intolerance, Adapted from UNESCO’s Recommendations

1. The Battle Against Intolerance Requires Law
Every Political Entity needs to reinforce Human Rights, and punish crimes motivated by hate against minorities, whether they be committed by individuals working for the state, private organisations or by individuals in their own… Read more

Just the other week; I was asked to help validate an application database hosted on a Mac, when I was introduced to the public domain database engine SQLite. To my surprise, it is actually the most deployed database engine in the world, since it is so small and… Read more

 
After revising the popular Blog post, Developing Your DBA Skills Futher Thanks to Experience with Multiple RDBMS, of just over a year ago, and great editing work from Andrew Clarke and Chris Massey, the third article for Simple talk has come to life.

Enjoy :)

The Polyglot of Databases: How… Read more

Already hit by yesterday's Tsunami, the fires have taken over the main center of town in Kesennuma, Miyagi, where I stayed in 1992 with the Suzuki family. They are continuing to burn tonight and moving inland (excuse the ads at the beginning from some Chumps trying to gain publicity… Read more

SCOM Does the core job of monitoring SQL Server instances very well (Health Monitoring) – but it is not going to make maintenance plans for you. 
You need to set up the database infrastructure first, so go to this article to start your SCOM journey: Here is a guide… Read more

 The raincoast weather could be a little better, but so far, I am very happy with the brain-filling load of sessions we are having here at Microsoft’s Campus, and mostly in a building they call the ‘Mixer’. The first day, yesterday, I managed to get out for a couple… Read more

We wound up in a nasty situation recently where SP2 could not be applied to an instance of SQL Server.  After messing around for hours with attempts to rebuild a corrupt master database, with the following startup in Admin-only mode:

sqlservr -c; -m"sqlcmd"; -f; -ServerName\InstanceNameIfNotDefault; -e"C:\path… Read more