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The Politics of SQL Server Performance

June 30, 2010 by John Sansom 11 Comments

Super DBA

Like most DBA’s I’m sure you often find yourself delivering information to the business concerning the performance of your SQL Server platform but have you ever stopped to consider the wider implications of your actions? As a SQL Server Database Administrator you are responsible for the overall health and well being of your SQL Server […]

Filed Under: Administration, Performance Tuning, Professional Development, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication

How much memory is each SQL Server database using?

June 25, 2010 by John Sansom 18 Comments

Whilst perusing the forums over at SQL Server Central today I stumbled across an interesting question regarding how to identify how much memory is being used by SQL Server on a per database level. As you know SQL Server stores database data and index pages in memory in an area know as the Buffer Pool. […]

Filed Under: DMVs, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: DMV

Top 5 Free SQL Server Tools

April 28, 2010 by John Sansom 10 Comments

UPDATE: See the more recent post Top 10 Free SQL Server Tools Maybe there is no such thing as a free lunch but who cares when there are awesome tools for SQL Server that are available for free! That’s right, you can make life a whole lot easier for yourself by maximising your valuable time […]

Filed Under: SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication

SQLBits VI – The inside scoop

April 22, 2010 by John Sansom 2 Comments

Last Friday I was one of the lucky few to attend the completely free SQLBits VI! This was my first time attending SQLBits and for me the event turned out to be an incredibly valuable experience. The caliber of speakers on show was high and the content covered technically delicious, a real treat. For those that […]

Filed Under: SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication

DBA Survival Skills – Think Defensively

April 12, 2010 by John Sansom 15 Comments

No matter how much of a Super Hero DBA you consider yourself to be, I can guarantee you that there that there will come a time when you have to deal with either a disaster scenario or some form of mistake. Interestingly however, it is what happens next that separates the Pro’s from everyone else. Things Can […]

Filed Under: Disaster Recovery, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Backups, Planning, Thinking Defensively

TLC and SQL Server Error Log Management

April 6, 2010 by John Sansom 2 Comments

One of the very first tasks I like to do when presented with a new SQL Server Instance is to review what’s been happening of late in the SQL Server Error Log file. Doing so can often provide a quick insight into items that require my attention. It’s not uncommon to encounter backup failure messages, […]

Filed Under: Administration, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: SQL Server Error Log

SQL Snippet: Who owns that SQL Server Job?

March 10, 2010 by John Sansom 1 Comment

Here is a handy T-SQL script that will list all SQL Server Agent Job owners by job. From an administration perspective, this query can come in handy when you need to ensure/validate the job owners on your server. One common mistake that I have seen is that when a user creates a new SQL Server […]

Filed Under: Administration, SQL Server Tips, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication

Top 10 Junior DBA Interview Tips

February 5, 2010 by John Sansom 46 Comments

Lion Roaring

The start of a new year is a time for self reflection and along with it perhaps a desire to do something new with your career. Maybe you are considering becoming a Junior Database Administrator (DBA)? Acquiring your very first role as a Junior DBA is not easy. Just browse any one of the many […]

Filed Under: Interviews, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Interview Tips, Junior DBA

SQL Snippet: What SQL Server Agent Jobs were running at that time?

December 30, 2009 by John Sansom 6 Comments

Here is a SQL Snippet that can be used to identify the SQL Server Agent Jobs that were running on a server at a particular point in time. This can come in very handy if you need to troubleshoot a performance issue after the fact and want to find out if there were any jobs […]

Filed Under: Administration, SQL Server Tips, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Jobs

SQL Snippet: SQL Server Wait Types

December 29, 2009 by John Sansom 5 Comments

Here is a handy little SQL Snippet that will return information about those all important SQL Server Wait Types for your server. It uses the SQL Server Dynamic Management View (DMV) sys.dm_os_wait_stats in order to extrapolate the desired information. A column has also been added to provide details of the percentage of total wait time […]

Filed Under: DMVs, SQL Server Tips, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: DMV

Blog your way to becoming a better DBA

October 15, 2009 by John Sansom 11 Comments

One of the most rewarding aspects of Blogging is that the content you share and publish has the potential to help others in your community but have you also considered that Blogging can actually make you a better DBA? You see the act of blogging itself provides a number of subtle benefits for your professional […]

Filed Under: Professional Development, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: blogging

SQL Server Essentials – Part 2: Why you should be using the FULL Recovery Model

July 27, 2009 by John Sansom 19 Comments

keep your data safe

In Part 1 of the “SQL Server Essentials” series we discussed the Database Administrator’s primary responsibility. Given that your data is so important, how can you manage and ensure it’s safekeeping? Should a data loss event occur, you want to be in a position to enable you to protect the majority, if not all, of […]

Filed Under: Disaster Recovery, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication

The Database Administrator’s Primary Responsibility

July 20, 2009 by John Sansom 45 Comments

You’re busy coding away at your workstation when all of a sudden your manager walks over to you all excited and begins discussing with you, the details of this great new application your company has just aquired. It turns out that he wants you to look after and administer this newly aquired application platform, which […]

Filed Under: Administration, Disaster Recovery, Professional Development, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Data Loss

Top 5 SQL Forums

July 1, 2009 by John Sansom 34 Comments

Top SQL Server Forums

As you no doubt already know, there is a ridiculously large amount of SQL Server Information available out there on the internet. Whether you’re browsing forums, web sites or blogs, knowing what the best sources of SQL Server information are and more importantly which one’s you can trust, can be tricky. So to help you […]

Filed Under: SQL Server Community, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Forums

DMV Query to identify all active SQL Server Sessions

June 3, 2009 by John Sansom 9 Comments

You may already be aware that I am a big advocate of the SQL Server Dynamic Management Views (DMV’s) and the benifits that they bring to the Database Administrator. They certainly came in handy with a requirement I had recently whereby I needed to identify the IP Address of a specific SQL Server Login and […]

Filed Under: DMVs, SQL Server Tips, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: DMV

What does it take to be an outstanding SQL Server DBA?

May 7, 2009 by John Sansom Leave a Comment

There has been quite a bit of activity this past week in the SQL Server community regarding how to secure a role as a Junior DBA.  Brent Ozar has posted a number of articles here and @SQLBatman has also been busy posting Junior DBA Questions. Both authors make some excellent points but what if you […]

Filed Under: Professional Development, SQLServerCentral Syndication, SQLServerPedia Syndication

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