Jun 14, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 14/06/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• SQL Server Standard Edition High Availability Futures - With Database Mirroring on the deprecation path should you be worried? Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter) via SQLServerPerformance.com
• Hello Operator, My Switch Is Bored - I had endeavored to encourage the Switch Operator into existence but after attempting to do so via cursors I came up with zilch. Thankfully Paul White (Blog|Twitter) comes to the rescue in style.
• The @DBAreactions Guide to Database Administration [Video] - DBA Horror stories with Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter).
• Database Benchmarks – Big Data Edition - Interesting developments and bench-marking capabilities shared courtesy of Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter)
• Praise and a Suggestion for AlwaysOn - Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter) on why he’s impressed with AlwaysOn and what could be done to make it even better.
• Plan Operator Tuesday round-up - A fantastic topic for TSQL-Tuesday this month, courtesy of Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter). A rather flash write up too, nicely done.
• Why Windows Azure Sql Database May Be Right For You - Simple is often a good thing when it comes to solution design. Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter) on why WASD might simply be exactly what you need.
• Windows Server 2012 R2 for the DBA: 10 Reasons it Matters - Allan Hirt (Blog|Twitter)  shares what we DBAs and Cluster Administrators need to know about Windows Server 2012.
• A performance issue involving CLR garbage collection and SQL CPU affinity setting - More real world consulting experience from the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).

SQL Community Forums

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• NSA Scandal…Effect on Cloud vs On-Premise Decisions?
• Community Involvement
• shrinking database is it a bad practice?

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Misc. Technology Posts

• How supermarkets get your data – and what they do with it - The Guardian
• Are You a Data Scientist? - Visual Business Inteligence – Stephen Few
• What’s Wrong with Job Interviews, and How to Fix Them - LinkedIn Article
• Help Me Help You Fix That - Buck Woody
• TEDGlobal: Visions of the future of flying - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Jun 7, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 07/06/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

If you were expecting to receive the awesome SFTW post via email today and are wondering why it has not arrived, please see the following post: Reminder – Email Subscribers – Action Required

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

SQLBrit Recommends – The Phoenix Project

• Hardware Selection: Disk Configurations and RAID -> Performance not Capacity - The SQLSkills folks are running a month long series aimed at the Accidental DBA. Here Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter) shares some great advice on disk configurations.
• Servers Need Expiration Dates - Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) explains why your databases have a finite shelf life and that you should plan for their inevitable retirement.
• Don’t just blindly create those “missing” indexes! - Aaron Bertrand (Blog|Twitter) shares an excellent post discussing why you should avoid blindly implementing SQL Server’s missing index recommendations and provides guidance on how you can perform further analysis to assist your decision making process.
• SQL Server 2014 In-Memory OLTP (“Hekaton”) Whitepaper - The next version of SQL Server is to be named SQL Server 2014, following this weeks TechED announcement. One of the features that I’m most looking forward to is the in-memory technology codenamed Hekaton. Here Kalen Delaney (Blog|Twitter) shares a whitepaper on what we can expect from the CTP 1 version of this new feature.
• How It Works: The I/O Path: SQL Server Running in Windows Azure Virtual Machine (IaaS) - CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog)
• Virtualization Considerations - Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter) latest post, and part of the SQLSkills folks Accidental DBA series, looks at the considerations for running SQL Server in a virtualized configuration.
• Mirror Mirror on the Server, Who is the Principal of Us All?  - Jes Borland (Blog|Twitter) provides an introduction to the Database Mirroring feature in this weeks video.
• How Do You Handle Changes - Chris Shaw(Blog) asks the community a great question this week! I’m still trying to pen my own thoughts on the subject as it’s one that is close to my own heart and is far from trivial.
• The Hierarchy of Monitoring Needs - Giving us a sneak peak of what to expect at SQL PASS, Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter) puts his own spin on the psychology of SQL Server monitoring.
• Cloud Computing Architecture Patterns: Don’t Focus on the Client - Architectural design wisdom shared courtesy of Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter). I particularly enjoy the concept that a record can be stored across multiple different data stores dependent on the data items use case.

SQL Community Forum

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• shrinking database is it a bad practice? - Actually no, not always.
• Prometric Certification - In order to take your exam, it helps if the test centre is actually open.
• Best Practice - One for you experienced developers.

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Misc. Technology Posts

• Google+ isn’t a social network; it’s The Matrix - The Guardian
• YES, Xbox One DOES need internet, DOES restrict game trading - TheRegister
• Pianist Krystian Zimerman storms out over phone recording - BBC News Technology
• Microsoft Teched 2013 Keynote - Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter)
• FBI and Microsoft take down $500m-theft botnet Citadel - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

May 31, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 31/05/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

IMPORTANT: This weekly links round-up is moving to a new home.

Following Google’s decision to withdraw investment in the FeedBurner platform, I will be migrating to the AWeber broadcasting solution. As a paid for service, this does mean there’s a cost to me but I believe it’s totally worth it to ensure you folks continue to receive a reliable and quality broadcast. Well at least the reliable part.

Email subscribers please look out for a communication with subject “Please confirm your subscription to SQLBrits Blog Updates” in the coming weeks and click the enclosed link to ensure you continue to receive post updates.

The switch over should be very straightforward but if you do run into any difficulties feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks for your support!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• Top 7 Things You Want To Do In Windows Azure Sql Database, But Can’t - Helping us to decide whether WASD is the right solution, it’s Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• Words DBAs Should Never Say to Developers - Excellent advice from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) this week on how you can avoid being the office tool. You might also enjoy How To Provide Great Feedback.
• Looking for Buried Treasure in the Transaction Log - How to inspect the transaction log, courtesy of Robert L. Davis(Blog|Twitter), to find out things such as who altered permissions on logins.
• Survey: what SQL Server build number are you running? - Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter) needs your input. These surveys always make for interesting reading so be sure to do your part by contributing.
• Mix and Match Databases: Dealing with Data Types - Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter) on the challenges of working with multiple databases and how to deal with them.
• Swart’s Ten Percent Rule - Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter) shares his thoughts on how you can determine if you’re pushing SQL Server limits perhaps a little too far.
• The Optimizer Isn’t As Smart As You Might Want It To Be - Denny Cherry (Blog|Twitter) shares the details of recent performance troubleshooting experience.
• Bad DBA Job Detector Test [Video] - Separating those elusive Dream Jobs from those that could turn out to be a complete nightmare, with Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter).
• Software Testing - Confession time with Chris Shaw(Blog). Things can and will go wrong for all of us. It’s how you handle it that really separates you.

Events - SQL Relay 2013

SQL Relay is an annual community run series of SQL Server training events across the UK. The aim is to enhance the existing SQL Server community in the UK by bringing world class training to your region.

Each SQL Relay spans 2 weeks, running 1-day conferences in a number of regions throughout the UK. With speakers from Microsoft, global IT companies and a host of MVPs, and covering topics from DBA, business intelligence and development, you can’t afford to miss the next event in your area!

Each event is run by the local SQL Server user group leaders. If you’re in need of a SQL fix before the next Relay, then find your local SQL user group here!

Visit the SQL Relay 2013 community site for all the details.

SQL Community Forum

These are some of things being talked about right now in the Community Forum by Data Professionals just like you.

• Try/Catch and nested stored procs
• Community Involvement
• Help with complex code

Misc. Technology Posts

• Microsoft ‘U-turn’ sees Start button back on Windows 8 - BBC News Technology
• Google whips the sheet off new Gmail interface - The Register
• How to Find a Mentor to Help You Go Further, Faster - Michael Hyatt
• UN to call for ‘pre-emptive’ ban on soulless robot bomber assassins - The Register

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

May 23, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 24/05/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

The holiday weekend is fast approaching for many of you and so the weekly links round-up is coming at you a day early. Whatever you’ve got planned, have a great weekend, cheers.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

SQL Server Links

Click me to get posts via email each week

• Reducing SQL Server IO and Access Times using Bloom Filters – Part 3 (Inserting Data) - Continuing his fascinating series on the use of Bloom filters, it’s Tony Rogerson (Blog|Twitter).
• Looking at Database Snapshot Performance - I really enjoyed this piece from Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter) via SqlPerformance.com. I’ve used Snapshots in a number of solutions and have needing to use FusionIO cards in order to get the IO levels to where they needed to be to support the workload.
• Junior DBA Interview Questions – Updated - Times are changing. Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter) reflects on how the role of the Junior DBAs is different for those now on the start of their journey.
• How to Manage Vendor Databases [Video] - This weeks video from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) looks at how you to manage vendor databases.
• Bug: sys.dm_db_session_space_usage Reporting Extremely High Tempdb Allocations - Sharing a recent and tricky troubleshooting case, it’s Robert L. Davis(Blog|Twitter).
• Book Review – Windows Powershell 3.0 - Andy Lohn (Blog|Twitter) shares his thoughts.
• The Many Uses of Cross Apply - An interesting looking at the various ways the Cross Apply function can be used, brought together courtesy of Kenneth Fisher (Blog).
• Use PowerShell to Copy Only Folders that Contain Files - Some PowerShell magic from the Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson (Blog).

SQL Community Forum

Lot’s of new folks joining this week (following my post) and introducing themselves to community.

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• What One Piece of Advice Would You Give To Your Past Self?
• Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
• How Did You Become a DBA?

Misc. Technology Posts

• They Only Remember the “No” - Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter)
• Microsoft unveils Xbox One next-generation console - BBC News Technology
• More than half of Windows 8 users just treat it like Windows 7 - TheRegister
• Xbox One pre-owned games may require fee payment - BBC News Technology
• Twitter locks down logins by adding two-factor authentication - TheRegister

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

May 17, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 17/05/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• Top 3 Performance Killers For Linked Server Queries - Some great advice from Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter). No.1 was news to me and I’ll be double checking for this issue/oversight in my environments.
• 1TB Databases for Developers [Video] - Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) shares his favourite lessons for developers who work with either OLTP or data warehouses.
• Five Ways to Improve Your Productivity with SSMS - Always on the look out for productivity tips, here’s some time saving suggestions for a tool many of us use daily courtesy of Matan Yungman (Blog|Twitter).
• Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due - Thoughts on community from Chris Yates(Blog|Twitter).
• SQL Server–Storage Spaces/VHDx and 4K Sector Size - The CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog) continuing their series on SQL Server Storage Spaces/VHD considerations.
• INSERT SELECT is Broken. Ask Microsoft to Fix It. - Adam Machanic (Blog|Twitter) asks for your support.
• Developers and Reporting Services - You know you’re in for a good day at the office when a Developer shares this piece of art with you.
• Monitoring SSD Performance - Getting all SMART with Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter).
• SQL Server: joining NULL values - An interesting look at how to implement the ANSI condition IS NOT DISTINCT FROM in SQL Server from a mysterious chap by the name of Quassnoi.
• Cannot Replicate “Stored Procedure Execution” when CDC is Enabled - Microsoft SQL Server Replication Support Team(Blog) share details of a limitation By Design that CDC users should take note of.
• The Basics of SQL Server Execution Plans (video) - In this video Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter) shares the concepts of reading SQL Server Execution Plans for beginners.
• SqlDev PowerShell 101: Getting Started with PowerShell - Taking those first few steps with PowerShell can seem daunting but as with most things, it’s easy once you know how. Here’s Michelle Ufford(Blog|Twitter) with a helping hand to get you off to a good start.

Misc. Technology Posts

• 6 Tech Trends of the Far Future - Inc.com
• Why I’m Tolerating the Surface Pro - Brent Ozar
• Google reveals Play Music All Access subscription service - BBC News Technology
• BlackBerry Messenger unleashed: Look out Twitter and Facebook - TheRegister
• Google Glass – cool or creepy? - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

May 10, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 10/05/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Back in Blighty after a fantastic few weeks in Florida. We enjoyed our first week at the Saddlebrooke Tennis Academy. Training 5 hours a day in the Florida sun is not easy but great fun! Look out for me at Wimbledon this year.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• Doing it Wrong: Virtualizing SQL Server - 10 years of virtualization experience shared for your benefit courtesy of Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• More businesses than you think are on the cutting edge - More people are using SQL2012 than I thought. Here’s the latest survey results from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter).
• Do You Have a Big Data Problem - “Everyone has a BIG data problem, they just don’t know it yet” – Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• The Basics of Database Sharding - An excellent and educational video from Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter) looking at scaling out your databases.
• Last call for London classes until 2015 or 2016 - The Immersion Events I was fortunate to attend were some of the best SQL Server training I have experienced. This could be the last opportunity for UK folks to enjoy such high quality training for quite some time. Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter) with the details.
• Indexing Wide Keys in SQL Server - Another great performance tuning technique using Computed Columns from Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter). You might also enjoy my recent post on avoiding Implicit Conversions with computed columns.
• How to Tell Your Windows Azure SQL Database Moved - For the most part you can’t it would seem. Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter) explains.
• Reducing SQL Server IO and Access Times using Bloom Filters – Part 1 (Concepts) - Very interesting post from Tony Rogerson (Blog|Twitter)! Admittedly I had to read it through a couple of times…
• AlwaysOn is the New Active/Passive and Active/Active - A passionate felt plea from Allan Hirt (Blog|Twitter) this week, imploring the community to p-u-r-lease use the right terminology.
• SQL Server 2012 Diagnostic Information Queries (May 2013) - Here’s the latest version of these excellent scripts from Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter).
• Where are the Windows Azure customer case studies - Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter) on why it can be tricky to get your hands on case studies for Windows Azure.
• Using PowerShell to discover Reporting Services 2012 in SharePoint - Some PowerShell magic from the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• Optimizing CSV Backup Performance - Clustering insights from the FCNLB Team Blog (Blog).

SQL Community Forum

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• Gettign Your DQS (Data Quality Services) Groove On
• ip address on sql cluster
• SQL Server Job Hunting Experience

Misc. Technology Posts

• Downloads for 3D-printed Liberator gun reach 100,000 - BBC News Technology
• The “Consumerization” of IT and the Dark Side of the Cloud - Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter)
• YouTube launches pay-to-watch subscription channels - BBC News Technology
• Are You Making Your Communications Stick - Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter)
• So You Don’t Want to be a Programmer After All - CodingHorror

By John Sansom Link Posts 2 Comments

Apr 19, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 19/04/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• Geoflow? Is that it, Microsoft? - Jamie Thomson(Blog|Twitter)
• How expensive are column-side Implicit Conversions? - Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter)
• How Much Cache Do You Have? - Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter)
• Easy automation of SQL Server database maintenance - Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter)
• The Sch-M lock is Evil - Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter)
• Server Inventories - Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter)
• Microsoft Let new SQL Server version name slip? - Richard Douglas (Blog|Twitter)
• Cloud Alternatives to Microsoft SQL Server - Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter)
• Creating a Windows Azure Virtual Machine – the RIGHT Way - Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter)
• Estimating Data Compression Savings in SQL Server 2012 - Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter)
• Parsing Glenn Berry’s Diagnostic Information Queries With PowerShell - Wes Brown (Blog|Twitter)

Misc. Technology Posts

• The Art of the One-Pager - Phil Factor
• Super-powered battery breakthrough claimed by US team - BBC News Technology
• Performance Tuning Your WordPress Blog - Steve Karam
• Twitter launches #Music service - BBC News Technology
• Game designer spills beans on chubby-fancying chap with his stolen Mac - TheRegister

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Apr 12, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 12/04/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

I’m going to be taking a short hiatus in the coming weeks and I was wondering if some of you chaps might be interested in holding the fort in my absence? If you would like to guest post the weekly links round up here (on Friday 26th April/3rd May) then let me know.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

Never miss your weekly links. Get them by email.

• Discover, Diagnose, and Document ALL Your SQL Servers On Your Coffee Break - Regular readers know that the Best DBAs Automate Everything and Mr Kendal Van Dyke (Blog|Twitter) clearly shares our winning philosophy as this week he’s giving away the power of automation with our community absolutely Free. Get on over to Codeplex to download a copy and be sure to share your feedback/express thanks.
• Free SQL Server Training Videos for Developers - Lots of excellent content to enjoy courtesy of Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter).
• A SQL Server Hardware Tidbit a Day – Day 11 - Continuing his insightful series of posts on SQL Server hardware it’s Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter). Really enjoying these.
• Survey: what mechanism do you use for regular database maintenance? - We all know knowledge is power. Be sure to do your part for our community by completing this survey from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter).
• The All-New ‘Database Lifecycle Management” is available on MSDN - Kevin Kline(Blog|Twitter) shares a reference to this newly available resource.
• SQLIOSim Checksum Validations - From the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog)
• Building a Lab or Portable Demo VM Box Cheaply - Building  a Lab is no trivial matter for a DBA. It’s a serious endeavor constructing a playground for learning and testing proof of concepts. When an experienced consultant such as Allan Hirt (Blog|Twitter) decides to share their build, we’re guaranteed quality instruction.
• Implicit Conversions that cause Index Scans - High quality analysis from Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter).
• T-SQL Tuesday #41: The Hook  - I’m going to let you in on a little secret, I typically try to avoid sharing meme posts on the links round-up. I feel that by the time Friday rolls around I’m pretty much done with the theme and imagine that other folks are too. Conversely then, when I do share a post from a meme, you know it’s got to be good! Inspirational stuff from Mr Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter).

SQL Community Forum

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• Do you recommend using WITH(NOLOCK) or not ?  – Scripts and quality video resources shared
• Even Data Professionals have a sense of humor - More comedy for the Data Professional
• What’s on SQLBrits Book Shelf - Not just SQL books it would seem
• Your Top 10 Posts of the Year - Community members share their favorites.

Misc. Technology Posts

• Twitter acquisition move hints at music service - BBC News Technology
• Google: ‘We’ll track EVERY task on EVERY data center server’ - TheRegister
• Samsung unveils 6.3in Galaxy Mega smartphone - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Apr 5, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 05/04/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Less chat more links this week. Some of you may even prefer it…….but don’t get used to it.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

Chelsea Buns

• DBCC CHECKDB scalability and performance benchmarking on SSDs - Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter)
• Catching SQL Server System Object Changes - Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter)
• How Not To Hire Someone - Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter)
• How to Find Out About the Latest SQL Server Service Packs and Cumulative Updates - Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter)
• Finding Key Lookups inside the Plan Cache - Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter)
• DBAs vs Devs: ORMs, Caching & Access to Prod - Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter)
• How To Survive Any Database Disaster -Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter)
• Mitch’s Quick Tips – #2 SQL 2012 IntelliSense Code Snippets - Mitchell Bottel (Blog|Twitter)
• Anti-Virus filter drive interference with File Stream Restore - CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog)
• How to go the Summit - Chris Shaw(Blog)
• Altering Text Columns: Only a Metadata Change? - Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter)

SQL Community Forum

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• Is this really feasible for one person to handle? - Sounds like quite a tough gig for any DBA and I’m not sure that I would be up for it. What about you?
• Encouragement for the DBA - Inspirational words of wisdom.
• Yippie. I finally passed 70-432 now onto 70-450 - The very real Power of the SQL community and it’s members in action. A brilliant result. Read the story here.

Misc. Technology Posts

• Facebook releases ‘home’ software for Android phones - BBC News Technology
• Review: Intel Next Unit of Computing barebones desktop PC - TheRegister
• European data watchdogs target Google over privacy - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Mar 28, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 29/03/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

We’re here a day early! Thursday is the new Friday this week chaps and I wanted to make sure you still got to enjoy a weekly post round-up.

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Starting out on your own journey to becoming a Data Professional is tough. Not knowing where you can turn for help or support can make it seem like an uphill struggle and it can feel like you’re on your own. It doesn’t have to be this way though! Thanks to the collective awesomeness and support of the members in the Community Forum, one budding Data Professional has been getting themselves off to a tremendous start on their journey.

I’m continually delighted by the generosity and collaborative spirit of the SQL community. It really is a wonderful thing to see it flourishing in the Community Forum and hope that you will come and be a part of it too.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• 

  Happy Easter folks!

  DBCC CHECKDB performance and computed-column indexes - Sharing the details of an important performance consideration for CHECKDB when your database has nonclustered indexes containing computed columns, it’s Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter). I blogged about a novel use for indexed computed columns this week and so I’m intrigued to see how this will effect the CHECKDB times for the DB.

• Follow-up on the @DBAReactions Experiment - DBAReactions has been a brilliantly entertaining creation from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) and chums.  Here he shares the story so far.
• What is the Difference Between Physical Sockets, Physical Cores, and Logical Cores? - Setting the record straight and with a bit of a history lesson too, it’s Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter).
• Saving Session State (video) - Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter)  investigates why session state poses problems for SQL Server and discusses alternate solutions that allow for persistent session state.
• CPUID PerfMonitor 2 Utility - Taking a look at this new utility, it’s Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter).
• Execution Plans in Azure SQL Database - Continuing his series of posts looking at SQL Azure, here’s Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter) with more execution plan insights.
• DBCC CHECKDB Execution Memory Grants – Not Quite What You Expect - Fascinating stuff from Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter) this week.
• Upgrading To Sql 2012: Ten Things You Don’t Want To Miss - Some excellent wisdom shared courtesy of Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• Network Packet Size: to Fiddle With or Not to Fiddle With - Robert L. Davis(Blog|Twitter) discusses.

SQL Community Forum

These are some of things being talked about right now by Data Professionals just like you in the Community Forum

• Windows command prompt/powershell tutorials
• Encryption/decryption
• Anyone taken the 2012 exams?
• How do you enforce strong passwords?

Misc. Technology Posts

• Global internet slows after ‘biggest attack in history - BBC News Technology
• After Leveson: The UK gets an Orwellian Ministry of Truth for real - TheRegister
• Yahoo spends ‘millions’ on UK teen Nick D’Aloisio’s Summly app - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts 3 Comments

Mar 22, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 22/03/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

Another British Classic

• Writing CASE expressions properly when NULLs are involved - 3 state logic and why it’s important you understand it from Mladen Prajdic (Blog|Twitter) this week.
• Tracking SQL Server Database Usage - Using Extended Events to validate database usage, from Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter).
• Database Servers And Client Tools Survey - Knowledge is power chaps so be sure to do your part for our community by completing this survey kicked off by Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• Checking Out Amazon Redshift - Yes I know it’s not your classic SQL Server post but it is for your own good, moulding you into a more robust data professional, courtesy of the experiences of Mr Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter).
• How NOT to Fill a Position - Sharing a tale about a recent disappointing, yet comical encounter with a recruitment consultant it’s Bob Pusateri (Blog|Twitter).
• The Problem with Window Functions and Views - Query optimization considerations for working with Window Functions, beautifully explained by Paul White (Blog|Twitter)
• Log Shipping FAQ - Sharing insights gathered  answering Log Shipping questions from folks just like you and me, it’s Jes Borland (Blog|Twitter).
• Getting Tooled - Standing firm on the matter, it’s Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter). Interestingly I’m actually an advocate for the other camp on this one.
• SQL Server 2012 partitioned table statistics -  Update behavior change when rebuilding index nuance explained courtesy of the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• Compressed Rowsets in SQL Server with CLR - An intriguing use of these technologies shared via David Browne (Blog).
• The Art of Fighting with Developers - Fighting talk from Mike Hilwig (Blog|Twitter).
• Conversion Issues Upgrading to PowerShell 3.0 - Michelle Ufford(Blog|Twitter) sharing her experiences for those DBAs and System Administrators making the move to POSH 3.0.

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Community Forum Conversations

These are some of the discussions going on right now in the SQLBrit Community Forum

• Anyone taken the 2012 exams?
• You’re a Recruitment Consultant and You Suck
• New commer
• Small tips and tricks
• Even Data Professionals have a sense of humor

Misc. Technology Posts

• Microsoft details global police data requests - BBC News Technology
• Pick a Needle and Move It - Brent Ozar
• How WordPress Thrives with a 100% Remote Workforce - Harvard Business Review
• Google’s Keep is new entrant in digital memo market - BBC News Technology
• Time to put ‘Big Data’ on a forced diet - TheRegister

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Mar 15, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 15/03/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Google Reader to be Shut Down

The news this week that Google Reader is shutting down means that RSS consumers need to start looking for an alternative way to enjoy your favourite subscriptions, including SFTW. Of course the best way to make sure you get to enjoy every single post as soon as it’s published is to Subscribe to free post delivery by Email.

I would recommend that you start considering alternative RSS Readers now so that you don’t get caught out when Google Reader is shut down. The following article over on LifeHacker looks at some alternative readers, as well as provides instruction on how you can migrate your existing subscriptions to your new Reader of choice.

Personally I like to use Feedly for consuming content, particularly on the iPad. It looks fantastic and has a glossy magazine feel to it but I will need to find a more robust and similar alternative to Google Reader for content curation, such as creating this weekly post for you lot. What feed Reader will you be choosing?

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• Filegroups and Non-Clustered Indexes - Demonstrating why your non-clustered indexes might not be stored where you think, it’s Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter).
• Databases Five Years from Today - Predicting your future this week from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter). Are you on the right path?
• A TOP Query - An excellent and insightful T-SQL walk-through from Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter),  looking at query optimization considerations around the use of the TOP operator filtered with a function.
• Log Shipping Part 2: When Disaster Strikes (video) - Part 2 of this excellent video series looking at Log Shipping, from Jes Borland (Blog|Twitter).
• Administering Sql Server 2012 Running On Windows Server Core - Don’t be a wuss! Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter) on why you need to quit being afraid and start getting to grips with Windows Server Core.
• Moving A Database to New Storage With No Downtime - A fantastic, well written post from Bob Pusateri (Blog|Twitter) and part of this months T-SQL Tuesday theme.
• Query Optimization Research Papers - A valuable collection of references and good reading from Benjamin Nevarez (Blog|Twitter).
• So You Think You’re a SQL MCM. Test yourself Part 1 - So you fancy your chances as a SQL Server MCM? Bob Duffy (Blog|Twitter) provides this litmus test.
• SQL Server Table Designer Bug with Filtered Unique Index - Adrian Hills (Blog|Twitter) uncovers a bug when working with the SSMS Table Designer. If this presents a problem for you too then be sure to vote for the Connect item.
• Creating a Clustered DTC for SQL Server Redux - Allan Hirt (Blog|Twitter) extends his initial instruction, refining for those with servers already in Production.
• Use PowerShell and Conditional Formatting to Format Dates - Some PowerShell magic courtesy of the Scripting Guy.

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Community Forum Conversations

These are some of the discussions going on right now in the SQLBrit Community Forum

• You’re a Recruitment Consultant and You Suck
• Memory Pressure
• Prometric Certification
• Share Your Favourite Performance Scripts

Misc. Technology Posts

• Ten pi-fect projects for your new Raspberry Pi - TheRegister
• Microsoft: Overheating caused Outlook and Hotmail shutdown - BBC News Technology
• Modder hacks SimCity for unlimited offline play - TheRegister
• Call of Duty dominates 2012 entertainment sales beating music and film - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts

Mar 8, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 08/03/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Technology Stuff. Enjoy….

• 

  Antoher British classic, the fondant fancy

  That’s Actually a Duplicate Index - An excellent walk-through post from Jason Strate (Blog|Twitter), identifying the different types of duplicate indexes that you need to look out for when conducting performance analysis of your environments.

• You don’t have a Big Data problem - Straight talking from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter), taking a sledgehammer to all this “trendy” Big Data talk.
• SQL Server 2012 Diagnostic Information Queries (March 2013) - Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter) shares an update to his excellent and freely available utility scripts.
• Slipstreamin’ Away - Practising a philosophy I am particularly fond of, Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter) shares some automation wisdom with us.
• switchoffset built-in function can cause incorrect cardinality estimate - Tales from the trenches with the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• Execution Plan Analysis: The Mystery Work Table - Each week I am fortunate to become a tiny little bit better at reading, evaluating and most importantly understanding execution plans, and it’s all thanks to the incredible efforts of the talented author Mr Paul White (Blog|Twitter). Do your career a favour and add this super smart chap to your RSS Reader now folks.
• Build your own Virtual Lab - Matt Velic (Blog|Twitter) shares his eBook on how you can get started with your very own SQL2012 lab environment.
• Twitter Talk Theatre, Episode 1: “RAID is good enough!” - Twitter can be a fantastic source of insight and knowledge if you use it right. SQL community knowledge pooling in action, courtesy of your host Jen McCown (Blog|Twitter).
• New job, new computer, new software installs - Batman had his utility belt, as for the rest of us we have to make do with our tool belt. You all know that I love me some tools and I also enjoy learning about what other Data Professionals keep in their box of tricks. Here’s Jamie Thomson(Blog|Twitter) with his own desktop tool setup.

Community Forum Conversations

These are some of the discussions going on right now in the SQLBrit Community Forum

• First major mistake as a so-called DBA – booohooo!
• Are You a DBA or a DB Dev?

• New comer from LA area with lots of questions

   

Misc. Technology Posts

• ‘Mainframe blowout’ knackered millions of RBS, NatWest accounts - TheRegister
• Programming’s not for you? How about thinking? Be empowered - Scott Hanselman
• Google Street View – a closer look - BBC News Technology
• Case Study on my two favorite technologies – Big Data & Xbox (Halo) - Shashank Pawar
• Evernote says security has been breached by hackers - BBC News Technology
• Virgin Media keeps mum as punters fume at crippled web access - TheRegister

By John Sansom Link Posts 3 Comments

Feb 22, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 22/02/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

Get SFTW posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

It’s been a noticeably quieter week in the blog-sphere, most likely due to all the SQL community MVPs sunning themselves (figuratively, it is in Seattle after all) at the MVP Summit.

Some of you have been asking about the photos that I share on SFTW each week. The astute observer will of course have noticed that they are all British “things”, adding a splash of culture to your day.

I’m particularly partial to a slice of cake, and as Mrs SQLBrit likes to bake, well I’m naturally happy to offer my expert opinion on such matters. If you like the look of a cake, you can click the image to get the recipe and have a go yourself. SQL and cake, a winning combination.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy.

Victoria Sponge

• 7 Things Developers Should Know About SQL Server - Aside from the Prime Directive that – The DBA “is” always right, Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) reveals all.
• Why should you bother with the PASS BA Conference this April? - Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter) on why you need to be thinking about the Big Picture in order to secure your future career success.
• Rolling Averages in SQL Server - T-SQL wizardry from Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter).
• Halloween Protection – The Complete Series - Paul White (Blog|Twitter) shares a collection of his excellent posts for us all to enjoy.
• When VMWare HA is Sufficient - Mike Hilwig (Blog|Twitter) shares why he does not quite agree with a recent post from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter).
• RS: Database Engine does not meet edition requirements - CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• How Does SQL Server Store Data? -  Back to basics this week with Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter).
• Invoke-SqlStmt – PowerShell for SQL Server & Teradata Queries - Michelle Ufford(Blog|Twitter) proving that she still has the old magic when it comes to crafting awesome scripts. You can see more of her work in my Top 10 Free SQL Server Tools post.
• Link List: Becoming a Data Professional - Sharing a list of valuable resources for those looking to embark on a career as a Data Professional, it’s Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter).

Community Forum Conversations

These are some of the discussions going on right now in the SQLBrit Community Forum

• DBA Automated Tasks ~ What Are Some Top Fav’s
• SQL Saturdays – anyone ever been?
• Complete newbie taking the plunge
• There’s Just Never Enough Time
• The SQL Brit Community – DropBox

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Use the SQL Server Event Calendar to keep informed of all upcoming SQL Server events, User Groups, and training opportunities here in the UK. You can also add this calendar alongside you existing Google calendar.

Misc. Technology Posts

• Paypal launches chip-and-pin device - BBC News Technology
• PlayStation 4 console announced by Sony in New York - BBC News Technology
• Google takes Chromebook upmarket with touchy-feely Pixel - TheRegister

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Feb 15, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 15/02/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Did you get a chance to see SQLBrit on SQL Server Central this week?

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy.

• 

  An English rose….Valentines

  DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS Works With SELECT Permission - SQL 2012 SP1 improvement when working with Linked Server queries shared by Benjamin Nevarez (Blog|Twitter).

• A new Q & A site, with plan uploads directly from Plan Explorer! - A post on SQLPerformance.com via those clever folks at SQLSentry(@SQL_Sentry).
• Behind the scenes of PowerShell and SQL - This weeks standout T-SQL Tuesday piece for me is from Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter), where he looks at the bigger picture of PowerShell and our use of it.
• Buffer pool disfavoring - An interesting look at why some operations (DBCC CHECKDB for example) do not flush the buffer pool. Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter) explains.
• Graphically Viewing Extended Events Deadlock Graphs - Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter) demonstrates another great update to Plan Explorer.
• SQL Server Naming Standards - Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter) has his say on this highly personal topic. As you can imagine, the comments are quite passionate.
• Day 28 of 31 Days of Disaster Recovery: Recovering SQL if the Tempdb Drive Dies - Continuing his monster sized series, it’s Robert L. Davis(Blog|Twitter).
• Tracking page splits using the transaction log - An excellent dose of SQL Internals from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter), demonstrating how you can read the transaction log to identify page splits.
• Under rare conditions, using IN clause can cause unexpected SQL behavior - More real world customer support cases from the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• T-SQL Tuesday #39 – Powershell Sorts! - You can never have too much PowerShell magic, Jim McLeod (Blog|Twitter) shares.

Community Forum Conversations

These are some of the discussions going on right now in the SQLBrit Community Forum

• SSIS: Passing a variable to a table
• Studying to take MCTS 70-432 for First Time. I am Nervous!
• Best Practices SSIS
• Select * Syndrome

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Use the SQL Server Event Calendar to keep informed of all upcoming SQL Server events, User Groups, and training opportunities here in the UK. You can also add this calendar alongside you existing Google calendar.

Misc. Technology Posts

• Why you need a home lab to keep your job - TheRegister
• How I Cleanup Up My Desk Cabling - Inspiring cable management from Brent Ozar
• iOS 6.x hack allows personal data export, free calls - TheRegister
• Meteor strike injures hundreds in central Russia - BBC News Technology

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments

Feb 8, 2013

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 08/02/13

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy.

“Performance problems all scone”

• DBCC WRITEPAGE: an introduction - Essential reading here from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter). Have fun breaking learning things.
• The Fastest Query is the One You Never Make - This post from Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) is worth a visit for game changing graphic alone, never-mind the great content.
• HOW SAFE IS YOUR DATA FROM THEFT? - A history lesson couple with some great advice from Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter), imploring you to get off your ass and check your security is up to scratch.
• DBAs and the Dark Closet - Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter) on coming out of the closet.
• Incorrect Results with Indexed Views - If you use MERGE, indexed views and foreign keys, your queries can return incorrect results. Paul White (Blog|Twitter) with the lowdown.
• Building a Larger Capacity SQL Server 2012 Workstation - Because bigger is better, it’s Glenn Berry (Blog|Twitter).
• WHERE to JOIN? - Getting a bit nostalgic on us this week it’s Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter), looking at join performance based on positioning within query syntax. Also an interesting look at an online SQL comparison tool.
• How Does the Cloud Change a Database Administrator’s Job? - More career wisdom from Mr Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter).
• Don’t change value of that parameter - A parameter sniffing case with a difference from the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• “UPSERT” Race Condition With MERGE - An insightful look at the the locking behaviour of the MERGE statement from Dan Guzman (Blog|Twitter).

SQLBrit Community Forum

These are some of the discussions going on right now in the SQLBrit Community Forum

• Unit Testing in SQL Server
• Backups with Blocksize Option
• There’s Just Never Enough Time

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Use the SQL Server Event Calendar to keep informed of all upcoming SQL Server events, User Groups, and training opportunities here in the UK. You can also add this calendar alongside you existing Google calendar.

Misc Technology Posts

• Why you need a home lab to keep your job - TheRegister
• Apple sued as activist demands it share out more cash - BBC News Technology
• In pictures: The household gadgets of yesterday - BBC News Technology
• LibreOffice 4.0 ships with new features, better looks - TheRegister

By John Sansom Link Posts No comments