White papers, DMVs and Monitoring Concepts
According to Jason Strate (SQL Server MVP) there are 5 white papers ever SQL Server DBA should read. Considering my...
2013-06-01
1,013 reads
Simple SQL Server
Blocking – Capturing and Monitoring
If a query is taking longer to run than normal, there’s a good chance it’s being blocked by something else....
2013-05-22
683 reads
Wait Stats – Monitoring and Using
sys.dm_os_wait_stats is one of the most important DMVs out there, and one that you should know the historical values of...
2013-05-21
1,837 reads
Indexes – Understanding basic types and their components
The biggest problem developers and newer DBAs have with understanding indexes is that you don’t realize when you’re using the...
2013-05-18
1,454 reads
Indexes – Unused and Duplicates
Indexes aren’t free, and many databases end up with unused indexes. Every time you make any update to a table...
2013-05-16
1,724 reads
Job Schedules – SQL Agent
This info should be easier to get than it is. Keep in mind that for something to run the subscription...
2013-05-15
1,317 reads
Roll Logs – Backup Recovery
Rolling log files for a day, especially with 15 or even 5 minute log backups is a pain at best....
2013-05-20 (first published: 2013-05-15)
2,021 reads
Table Sizes
There’s no simple way in SQL Server to see the sizes of all the tables and their indexes. Even seeing...
2013-05-15
652 reads
Index Columns and Names
Don’t trust the name of an index to tell you what it is. The name is wrong, or at least...
2013-05-14
1,501 reads
Running Processes
Sp_who2 is not used by this DBA. That info is amazingly good to have, but I want more. Don’t get...
2013-05-14
860 reads
Blogs
Advice I Like: Pyramid Schemes
By Steve Jones
If someone is trying to convince you it’s not a pyramid scheme, it’s a...
Using Prompt AI for a Travel Data Analysis
By Steve Jones
I was looking back at my year and decided to see if SQL Prompt...
FinOps for Kubernetes: Leveraging OpenCost, KubeGreen, and Kubecost for Cost Efficiency
In the era of cloud-native applications, Kubernetes has become the default standard platform for...
Forums
Database file shrink issue.
Hi experts, I have a 3+ TB database on a 2019 sql server which...
The North Star for the Year
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The North Star for the...
Multiple Escape Characters
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Escape Characters
Question of the Day
Multiple Escape Characters
In SQL Server 2025, I run this code (in a database with the appropriate collation):
SELECT UNISTR('%*3041%*308A%*304C%*3068 and good night', '%*') AS 'A Classic';
What is returned? See possible answers