Month: September 2018

Cycle SQL Server Error Logs

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I saw this again recently and see it too often in environments so wanted to take a second to remind everyone to cycle their error logs on a regular basis. SQL Server keeps error logs and when you reboot or restart SQL Server services the logs are cycled and a new one is created. Depending on how many logs you have configured for SQL Server to have this may include removal of the oldest log as well. Since many of pride ourselves on keeping our SQL Servers up and running, reboots may be few and far between thus our logs… Continue Reading

Careful with your SQL Server Max Memory settings

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Quite often I see database administrators set SQL Server max server memory thinking everything related to SQL Server uses this shared memory pool. This is a mistake. There are many things that rely on memory that are not part of SQL Server. Best practices state that you should leave memory allotted for the operating system. However, did you know that if you are running services like SSIS, SSAS or SSRS on the same server as the database engine that it does not use the same memory you have allocated for SQL Server? If the Max Memory setting is not configured… Continue Reading

Back up Encryption for SQL Server

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Nowadays security breaches happen way to frequently. As DBA’s we should all take extra care with sensitive data and ensure we are encrypting correctly. But some of us forget to take it a step farther and don’t encrypt our backups. For those working in an ultra data sensitive environment I highly recommend you go this extra step. As of SQL 2014, SQL Server now has the ability to encrypt your data during the backup process. Not only that but they have made the process simple. Prior to 2014, the only way to encrypt backups was Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), and that requires Enterprise… Continue Reading