The Scary DBA

SELECT * Hurts Performance, Badly

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

Quite a few years ago, I wrote a post about SELECT * and performance. That post had a bit of a click-bait title (freely admitted). I wrote the post...

2021-01-25

18 reads

Getting Started Reading Execution Plans: Highest Cost Operator

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

Reading execution plans in SQL Server is just hard. There’s a lot to learn and understand. I previously outlined the basics I use to get started when I’m looking...

2020-12-22 (first published: 2020-12-14)

467 reads

Why Aren’t You Automating Database Deployments?

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

Building out processes and mechanisms for automated code deployments and testing can be quite a lot of work and isn’t easy. Now, try the same thing with data, and...

2020-12-03 (first published: 2020-11-23)

492 reads

The Learning Curve for DevOps

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

If you’re attempting to implement automation in and around your deployments, you’re going to find there is quite a steep learning curve for DevOps and DevOps-style implementations. Since adopting...

2020-11-25 (first published: 2020-11-16)

193 reads

Database Fundamentals #29: Create Foreign Keys With Table Designer

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

The purpose of a foreign key is to ensure data integrity by making sure that data added to a child table actually exists in the parent table and preventing...

2020-11-09 (first published: 2020-11-02)

213 reads

Most Costly Statement in a Stored Procedure

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

A lot of stored procedures have multiple statements and determining the most costly statement in a given proc is a very common task. After all, you want to focus...

2020-10-19 (first published: 2020-10-12)

843 reads

Assuming Good Intentions

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

With all the stuff going on around the world over the last year, maintaining some degree of mental stability can be quite a challenge. Speaking only for myself, while...

2020-10-09 (first published: 2020-10-05)

345 reads

Capture Execution Plans Only For Long Running Queries

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

I love questions. Most of all, I love questions I can answer. I spotted this question recently: How can I use Profiler to capture execution plans for queries over...

2020-10-05 (first published: 2020-09-28)

470 reads

Review: Stellar Repair for SQL Server

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

I was contacted by Stellar Info quite a while ago. They asked me to try out their software. I said yes, but I was really bad about getting it...

2020-10-01 (first published: 2020-09-23)

253 reads

Extended Events: Filter on Stored Procedure Name

• by Grant Fritchey

• The Scary DBA

I just received a question about Extended Events: What about filtering on the stored procedure name. You know I love writing and talking about Extended Events. The answer is,...

2020-09-04 (first published: 2020-08-24)

455 reads