chkdsk isn't thorough enough. You need low level diagnostics, as well as double checking every software version in the I/O system (drivers, firmware,etc)

Paul,

I agree. Don't bait-and-switch. Let someone know what to expect in the interview.

I'm confused.

If you have nightly loads that make the log large, how is that space wasted? You need it every night. Shrinking during the day is silly. What else do...

Everything you do is a guess here. It's hard to estimate this unless you know the transaction load.

And if you do, then why not just run a log backup every...

The deallocations of pages are logged, not each row, so this is quick.

Also, keep in mind that a truncate is usually to clear out data. I've not seen it included...

I agree with John. This sounds like an issue outside of SQL Server.

I'm not sure I have an article specifically addressing this, but moving all data to a specific key can be an issue later with untangling them. NULL is there for...

Use the windows scheduled tasks and SQLCMD. Pass the stored proc as a parameter to SQLCMD.

Two or three? There were three correct answers to check.

The VM test isn't an all or nothing. It doesn't make the decision, it just provides input. Along with the questioning and interaction, this isn't "stump the chump", it's evaluating...

well, I thought that ALTER DATABASE SET ONLINE would work but it doesn't in 2005. Perhaps my memory is failing.

RESTORE DATABASE xxx WITH RECOVERY will bring it online.

(Donald Farmer accent): Newbie, I've given you all I've got. We can't push it any harder. That query on the dilithium table will came apart if you keep running it.

As Gail mentioned, you want to get the results of this to see what's wrong. 20 hours does seem like a long time. How large is the DB?

My guess is...

Wow, two complements in a row.

Nice job, VM

Do all your restores using the NORECOVERY option, and then you can use an ALTER DATABASE to bring the database online. The reason is that if you don't use this,...