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.
2013-01-28
2,889 reads
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.
2013-01-25 (first published: 2010-01-19)
9,371 reads
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.
2013-01-24
2,264 reads
This tip describes memory pressure issues that can arise from the RESOURCE_SEMAPHORE Waittype and how to find which query or transaction is causing the memory pressure.
2013-01-23
2,543 reads
Sometimes, you have to test out alternative indexing strategies, but the task of creating the candidate indexes would just take too long. Is there another way? Well, yes, why not use the same method the DTA (Database Tuning Advisor) uses, and take the tedium out of the job.
2013-01-22
3,343 reads
Despite NTEXT and TEXT being deprecated in SQL Server for some time they are still both used in production systems. In this article, I will briefly demonstrate the difference between a VARCHAR (MAX), NVARCHAR (MAX) and the NTEXT data types, and the impact on performance from using NTEXT/TEXT.
2013-01-21
6,201 reads
Multi-select parameters give your users control over their reports while reducing the number of reports they have to work with. This example demonstrates how to create a multi-select parameter list and pass the values to a stored procedure that will then populate the report.
2013-01-18
4,259 reads
The error handling of SQL Server has always been somewhat mysterious. Now at last, the THROW statement has been included in SQL Server 2012 that, when combined with the TRY...CATCH block, makes error handling far easier. Robert Sheldon explains all.
2013-01-17
8,709 reads
Following on from the previous TSQL performance tuning article in this series, we now focus on the important topic of T-SQL “Not IN” And “Not Exists “
2013-01-16
7,301 reads
We often need to create similar SSIS packages which contain some common components such as connection managers, data flow components, log providers, event handlers, etc... So do we really need to create a package from scratch each time and add all these commonly used components in each package again and again. Is it possible to create a SSIS package with a basic structure/workflow and common components which can be used as template to create subsequent packages?
2013-01-15
3,372 reads
By Steve Jones
I was looking over the CHOOSE() function while editing an article at SQL Server...
By Brian Kelley
Here is another short video (~ 15 minutes). This is by the author of...
By Steve Jones
I had a briefing for the 2026 PASS Data Community Summit, which is just...
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In SQL Server 2022+, what does the ##MS_DatabaseConnector## role allow?
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