Async stats update causing blocking

I recently encountered an issue where an index rebuild set to wait_at_low_priority ended up blocking an asynchronous statistics update.
This interaction led to a large blocking chain where queries were...

Are ABORT_AFTER_WAIT's victims logged?

In SQL Server, using the KILL command to terminate a session results in an entry being logged in the error log.
This raises the question: Does the ALTER INDEX REBUILD...

Extended Events and I (T-SQL Tuesday #166)

Foreword
This month’s invitation is from Grant Fritchey (t|b), aka the Scary DBA, about Extended Events (XEs).
If you look at the Tags section of my blog, you can see that...

Misleading SSMS Connection

Foreword
The other day I managed to confuse myself. I was looking up some information from an Extended Events (XE) session, but my eyes were playing a trick on me....

Advent of Code 2022

Foreword
Advent of Code is an annual event in which participants solve a series of coding puzzles. It typically begins on December 1 and runs through the end of the...

Default event_file path for Extended Events

Foreword
Have you ever wondered where the .xel file is saved when you create a new Extended Event session and don’t specify the full path (just the file name)?
Like so:

Well,...

Testing the code (T-SQL Tuesday #156)

Foreword
Even though I picked the question, I struggled to answer it.
Following my train of thought - production code should be of the highest quality. To enforce quality, we use...

T-SQL Tuesday #156 - Wrap Up

Foreword
Thank you everyone for participating! There is a total of 15 submissions and thanks to them, I’ve widened my perspective.
The order of the posts is chosen at random.
Greg Moore
Contribution|Blog|Twitter
Greg...

Production Code (T-SQL Tuesday #156)

Background
T-SQL Tuesday - the brainchild of Adam Machanic and coordinated by Steve Jones (blog|Twitter) is a monthly blog party on the second Tuesday of each month. And I will...

Scary Scalar Functions - Part Four: Your Environment

Scary Scalar Functions series overview

Part One: Parallelism
Part Two: Performance
Part Three: The Cure
Part Four: Your Environment

Foreword
In the previous posts, we have learned why Scalar Functions (UDFs) are bad for parallelism...