Your SQL Server Is Whispering…Are You Listening?
Early Warnings of a Meltdown (and How to Catch Them) Most SQL Server crashes don’t come out of nowhere. They leave breadcrumbs – red flags that something’s not right....
2025-05-07
96 reads
Kevin3NF
- Interests: Cycling, family, sci-fi, DBA stuff
SQL Server Budgets: How to Justify Cost to Management
Ever tried to request SQL Server funding from the CFO? Your systems, your data, your customer experience – they all rely on that “invisible” database engine humming along behind...
2025-05-01
46 reads
SQL Server Wait Stats
Everything in SQL Server is waiting for something…this is by design. And most people never think about it… Until your application is waiting to complete its request, sell the...
2025-04-30 (first published: 2025-04-16)
388 reads
The Cost of Not Having a DBA
Does skipping a DBA save money? Wait until your system grinds to a halt, your backups fail, or your cloud bill skyrockets. The “DBA? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’...
2025-04-14 (first published: 2025-04-02)
595 reads
Why Your SQL Server Backups Aren’t Enough
SQL Server backups are database insurance – you don’t really appreciate them until disaster strikes. But here’s the kicker: having backups doesn’t mean your data is safe. If you’re...
2025-04-09
147 reads
SQL Server Source Control on a $0 Budget
The Source Control Dilemma Every DBA has been there. Trying to keep track of database schema changes while developers have their fancy Git repositories and version control workflows. Meanwhile,...
2025-03-27
136 reads
SQL Server Performance – What IT Leaders Need to Know
IT leaders have a lot on their plates! Budgets, staffing, security, uptime, and keeping everything running smoothly. When SQL Server performance becomes an issue, a common reaction is often...
2025-03-26 (first published: 2025-03-13)
6,947 reads
Mistakes IT Shops Without a DBA Make
We get it. There’s no budget for a DBA on staff, or even a contract support firm like Dallas DBAs. You are not alone! There are thousands of firms...
2025-03-19 (first published: 2025-03-07)
609 reads
Our SQL Server is Slow! What Do I Do First?
Don’t Panic! It’s a vague but common complaint, frequently with no additional details. Before blindly restarting SQL Server, let’s walk through quick checks that don’t require deep DBA skills....
2025-03-19
256 reads
SQL Server Time Bombs
Common Reasons for Emergency SQL calls If you are a production DBA (or Accidental prod DBA) you’ve gotten that frantic call in the middle of the night. Or maybe...
2025-03-12 (first published: 2025-02-28)
550 reads
Blogs
T-SQL Tuesday #196 – Two risky career decisions I made
By DataOnWheels
The T-SQL Tuesday topic this month comes James Serra. What career risks have you...
T-SQL Tuesday #192: What career risks have you taken?
This T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by the one and only James Serra – literally...
T-SQL Tuesday #196: Taking Risks
By Steve Jones
This month we have a new host, James Serra. I’ve been trying to find...
Forums
would it be so terrible to install ssms on a few user desktops?
Hi, ssms is free here. I can think of other reasons to do this...
I'm thinking about submitting some articles
I've written some documentation on using different Markdown types of files on GitHub. It's...
Not Just an Upgrade
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Not Just an Upgrade
Question of the Day
Restoring On Top I
I am doing development work on a database and want to keep a backup so I can reset my database. I make some changes and want to restore over top of my changes. When I run this code, what happens?
USE Master BACKUP DATABASE DNRTest TO DISK = 'dnrtest.bak' GO USE DNRTest GO CREATE TABLE MyTest(myid INT) GO USE master RESTORE DATABASE DNRTest FROM DISK = 'dnrtest.bak' WITH REPLACESee possible answers