Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 15/05/11

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Owing to my being away on vacation for the last few weeks there have unfortunately been no SFTW posts for you dear reader. Not wanting to sell you short, this edition is a Jumbo wrap up of the my favourite SQL content from the last 3 weeks! Man I’m good to you.

In between sunning myself in Barbados and Florida, I was both delighted and humbled to have received the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. The extremely oversized logo above is proof that I really do spend too much time on SQL Server Forums ;-)

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

SQL Server Links

• Counting Unreplicated Commands and Transactions – A wonderful Replication administrative query shared by Robert L. Davis(Blog|Twitter). Get your head around how this works and you will most certainly improve your understanding of SQL Server Replication mechanics.
• Drop the Noise – Although not directly SQL focused, useful advice nonetheless this week from Jen McCown (Blog|Twitter).
• CTEs – query-scoped views – Have you ever thought about the feasibility of temporary views? Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter) has. I particularly enjoyed the fact that he approaches this months theme from a different angle, looking at the wider purpose of CTEs rather than the various T-SQL implementations/uses available.
• Salary survey results – are YOU being paid enough? – Interesting reading for all Data Professionals I’m sure you’ll agree. The results of the latest survey from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter) are in.
• Seeks, Scans, and Statistics in the Grocery Store – This week Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) and the PLF team go shopping.
• New extended event to track writes to the snapshot sparse file – Help at last when troubleshooting Snapshots, details shared courtesy of the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• Considering Data Access Patterns When Determining Server Resource Requirements – A wonderfully detailed technical discussion shared courtesy of Tony Rogerson (Blog|Twitter).
• T-SQL Tuesday #18–CTE A Simpler Form Of Recursion – Another CTE post from T-SQL Tuesday but with a different spin. Nicholas Cain (Blog|Twitter) looks at recursion or rather what really is recursion, following a question that came up in a recent interview.
• Optimize Recursive CTE Query – A in depth real world performance tuning case from Microsoft SQLCAT (Blog).
• The Truth About NOLOCK Hints – Another great post from Robert L. Davis(Blog|Twitter) this time looking at the locking behaviour of the NOLOCK hint. I think you’ll be surprised to see what actually goes on.
• SOS_SCHEDULER_YIELD waits and the LOCK_HASH spinlock – Deep Dive performance tuning investigations from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter). Good stuff!
• Distribution Agent unable to STREAM when replicating as TSQL – Microsoft SQL Server Replication Support Team(Blog).
• When To Use Blocked Processes Reports – Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter) tells us exactly when to make use of his freely available utility. If you’ve not yet taken a look at Michael’s Blocked Process Reports you’re missing out.
• Indexing for ORs – True to form, another excellent performance tuning insight and walk through from Gail Shaw (Blog|Twitter).
• Reducing Impact of Large Updates on Merge Replication – Microsoft SQL Server Replication Support Team(Blog).
• The Index Tuning Detective – More enlightening T-SQL tales from Brad Schulz (Blog), this week with a takeaway script that may identify some performance tuning opportunities for you.
• Checking Database Space With PowerShell – The magic of PowerShell brought to life by Nicholas Cain (Blog|Twitter).
• Why does this query consumes so much CPU? – Customer case files from CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• AlwaysON – HADRON Leanring Series: Maximum Failovers Within Specified Period – The CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog) share more fascinating insights into the administrative nuances of SQL Server Denali.