My alternative to sp_WhoIsActive
I use sp_WhoIsActive a lot. I’m extremely grateful for Adam Machanic writing it. It has tons of options that let...
2019-01-28
5,058 reads
Memory Grants part 6: Memory used in aggregate functions (Min/Max/etc)
So far in this series, I’ve been focusing on the Sort operator. It’s pretty easy for demos since I can...
2019-01-25
676 reads
The Execution plan comparison feature (in SSMS)
Did you know that you can compare two execution plans in SQL Server Management?
It’s really cool. I use it a...
2019-01-25
990 reads
SQL Server Monitoring: What to start measuring
So you’ve got a SQL Server that you want to monitor. What should you monitor? In my opinion, at bare...
2019-01-22 (first published: 2019-01-14)
2,655 reads
Memory Grants part 4: The Resource Semaphore
Part of query memory grants, part 4! This post will cover the wait type RESOURCE_SEMAPHORE briefly, but the focus is...
2019-01-21
1,023 reads
New page on this blog: Contact Me
This is not a technical post! Just wanted to say that I set up a public email address for this...
2019-01-19
132 reads
When the query plan hash is deceptive
When you’re querying the plan cache, you need to know the four primary objects: the query hash, query plan hash,...
2019-01-17
756 reads
Execution plans: RetrievedFromCache
I first came across the value for RetrievedFromCache when I was reading a confusing execution plan. At first, I thought...
2019-01-11
680 reads
Why is the query hash so useful?
An example of how I use the query hash
I wrote a blog on what the query hash is, right here....
2019-01-10
6,448 reads
Query memory grants part 2: Varchars and sorting
Why the heck did we make all our columns varchar? That’s a hypothetical question, please.
But now we have to pay...
2019-01-09
131 reads
Blogs
The Book of Redgate: Spread across the world
By Steve Jones
This was Redgate in 2010, spread across the globe. First the EU/US Here’s Asia...
Merry Christmas
By John
Today is Christmas and while I do not expect anybody to actual be reading...
Self-Hosting a Photo Server the Whole Family Can Use
By Bert Wagner
Until recently, my family's 90,000+ photos have been hidden away in the depths of...
Forums
Happy Holidays, Let's Do Nerdy Stuff
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Happy Holidays, Let's Do Nerdy...
UNISTR Escape
Comments posted to this topic are about the item UNISTR Escape
Celebrating Tomorrow
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Celebrating Tomorrow
Question of the Day
UNISTR Escape
In SQL Server 2025, I run this command:
SELECT UNISTR('*3041*308A*304C\3068 and good night', '*') as "A Classic";
What is returned? (assume the database has an appropriate collation)
A: 
B: 
C: 
See possible answers