A new custom metric is available at SQL Monitor Metrics. This tracks indexes that have more writes than reads. Use this code if you want to find out if you might be over indexing your tables.  Read more...

Marcin Policht presents the fundamental principles of PowerShell in the context of SQL Server 2012. Join him as he steps through its initial setup and configuration, and reviews specific management areas where its advantages can be realized.  Read more...

SQL Server expert David Poole discusses how teams can work together and share templates in Management Studio.  Read more...

In earlier installments of this series we looked at T-SQL Performance optimizations along with different T-SQL practices, we can now turn our attention to the second part of this series which is index Tuning  Read more...

The list of builds for SQL Server 2008 updated SP3.  Read more...

In this Level, we’ll look at how to use XML methods within user-defined functions to return XML fragments and values from your target XML instance.   Read more...

As a production Database Administrator, I do not want to give Developers direct access to the SQL Server Agent job log especially for servers in the DMZ. Another problem we have is that when there is a lot of log data for a job, the default job log doesn't contain the full log detail and that makes it harder to troubleshoot. Most of all, we are trying not to use a different code set for deployment based on the environment. Basically we want to use the same methods to deploy our jobs to Development, Test and Production.   Read more...

How do you recover from corruption if your organization doesn't have a disaster recovery handbook? And how can you prevent the same corruption from recurring?  Read more...

A list of the builds of SQL Server 2012 through CU#4.  Read more...

This articles shows a technique that generates and launches an SSIS package to update statistics in parallel.  Read more...

The most critical task for all DBAs is to have a Backup and Recovery strategy that ensures, every day, that in the event of a disaster they can restore and recover any database, within acceptable limits for data loss and downtime. Even with all the required backups in place, it's easy to miss subtle failings in the overall plan that can, and eventually will, defeat your recovery plans.   Read more...

In February 2008, Microsoft announced a record-breaking data load using Microsoft® SQL Server® Integration Services (SSIS): 1 TB of data in less than 30 minutes. That data load, using SQL Server Integration Services, was 30% faster than the previous best time using a commercial ETL tool. This paper outlines what it took: the software, hardware, and configuration used. We will describe what we did to achieve that result, and offer suggestions for how to relate these techniques to typical scenarios. Even for customers who don't have needs quite like this benchmark, such efforts can teach a lot about getting optimal performance.  Read more...

You can download a free eBook from SQLServerCentral and Red Gate software on the most important task a SQL Server DBA or developer needs to understand.  Read more...

Now that we've seen the basics of indexing, and taken a deeper dive into Nonclustered Indexes, this Level will focus on searching the table, which will, in turn, will lead us to a discussion of clustered indexes.  Read more...

A procedure that generates point in time restore database & log commands for your databases.  Read more...

There are several different ways of restricting access to SSIS packages and confidential information they contain. However, preventing unauthorized users from running or viewing the content of your code is not the only security measure that you should take into consideration.   Read more...