Introduction to SQL Server Execution Plans
Watch this week’s episode on YouTube! I nearly always use execution plans as the starting point for SQL query performance troubleshooting. In this multi-part series, I plan to review...
2019-07-23
202 reads
Blog Posts
Introduction to SQL Server Execution Plans
Watch this week's video on YouTube
Part 1: Introduction to Execution Plans
Part 2: Overview of Statistics
Part 3: Reading an Execution Plan
Part 4: Commonly Troublesome Operators
Part 5: Troubleshooting Execution Plans
I nearly...
2019-07-23
6 reads
Introduction to SQL Server Execution Plans
Watch this week's video on YouTube
Part 1: Introduction to Execution Plans
Part 2: Overview of Statistics
Part 3: Reading an Execution Plan
Part 4: Commonly Troublesome Operators
Part 5: Troubleshooting Execution Plans
I nearly...
2019-07-23
10 reads
SELECT Expression Execution Order
Watch this week’s episode on YouTube! Today I want to share with you an interesting observation I made about SELECT expression execution order. I was working on writing a...
2019-07-23 (first published: 2019-07-09)
810 reads
sp_execute_external_script and SQL Injection
In order to take advantage of R and Python (and Java in SQL Server 2019) directly from your SQL Server scripts, you’ll be using the function sp_execute_external_script. When you...
2019-07-23 (first published: 2019-07-08)
717 reads
Current database vs database locks
I have a lot of co-workers who use sp_who and sp_who2 to see who’s in a given database. This is ... Continue reading
2019-07-22
298 reads
Error: ‘misaligned log IOs which required falling back to synchronous IO’ And Slow AG Synchronisation
I recently hit this rather interesting issue when migrating a bunch of SQL Servers onto a nice, shiny new SAN. The plan was simple enough, take the secondary servers...
2019-07-22 (first published: 2019-07-08)
2,763 reads
2019-07-22
11 reads
Importance of Testing
I’ve always said if you’re running a script for the first time in a production environment, you’re doing it wrong. Testing is fundamental to technology, yet it is one...
2019-07-22
22 reads
Is That Database in Use?
This article demonstrates how to use Extended Events to determine if a database is being used by someone or something.
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Finding Deprecated Uses in SQL Server November 7, 2016...
2019-07-22 (first published: 2019-07-03)
964 reads
Blogs
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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