The Long Running Backup

Database Files on Shares I

Using the Default Trace in SQL Server

I have heard of the default trace in SQL Server. I know it’s on by default, but I don’t know how to use it. What can I do with the default trace?

Killing a SPID and Checking Rollback progress in SQL Server

From time to time, I encounter blocking situations where I end up issuing a SQL KILL command against the blocking SPID. When I run sp_who2, I can see the killed SPID is in a ROLLBACK state. Is there any way I can get an idea of how long the rollback for the SPID will take?

Rolling Back CUs

Finding Out What Changed in a Cumulative Update

Over the last several years, Microsoft has been putting less and less effort into Cumulative Update documentation. We used to get full-blown knowledge base articles about fixes, but these days, we get a collection of footnotes with deceiving hyperlinks that look like they’re going to lead to more information – but they simply lead back to themselves.

The Backup Space Needed

SQL Server 2022 CU Updates and Error Code 0x851A0043

The documentation cautions that cumulative updates (CU) could fail if a specific registry key isn’t updated after moving the master files, so I wanted to test this before I spent too much time configuring the server.

Tracking Table Sizes

Today Steve asks if you track the details of your table growth inside a database.

How to rename a SQL Server database

There may come a time when you want to or need to rename a database. In this tip we look at a couple different options.