Ooops! Was that me? (Blog Challenge)

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We have all made mistakes in our careers, I thought I’d share one of mine as a quick tip to others so that you don’t make the same one. Everyone has their SQL Alerts setup right? If not, I have included the script below and here is the MSDN link to find out more (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms180982.aspx). For those who have setup their alerts, how many of you have remembered to set the DELAY BETWEEN RESPONSES setting? When I worked at the Port of Virginia, I was a little less experienced in SQL and didn’t notice this lovely little option. I of… Continue Reading

Run Book, Run!!!

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How many of you actually have a “Hit-by-the-Bus” handbook? What is that, you ask? It is a document that explains how to execute all your jobs and SSIS packages. In addition, I preference mine with all key elements someone might need, like where passwords are stored, architectures, backup times, where are backups stored, etc… then dig into the job steps. The purpose of this document is so that someone with some SQL skills could step in if needed. You never know when you will be hit by a bus or win the lottery and someone has to take over for… Continue Reading

Hide and Group Columns in SSRS Using a Parameter

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Ever had users come to you and request another version of a report just to add another field and group data differently? Today, was such the day for me. I really don’t like have multiple versions of the same report out there. So, I got a little fancy with the current version of the report and added a parameter then used expressions to group the data differently and hide columns. For those new to SSRS I’ve embedded some links to MSDN to help you along the way. Current Report The report gives summarized counts by invoice date.  It currently has… Continue Reading

T-SQL Tuesday #84 – Helping New Speakers

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Ok everyone; here goes my first crack at replying to a T-SQL Tuesday. For those that don’t know what it is, it’s a Monthly blog topic hosted by a member of the SQL Community. It was started originally by Adam Machanic (t | b) This month’s topic hosted by Andy Yun (t | b) is on Growing New Speakers, which I find to be a perfect topic for me to leap off from, since this was my first year speaking and blogging. How did I get started? I 100% blame Derik Hammer (t | b) whom at the time was running my local user group. After attending… Continue Reading

Challenge Accepted

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My life for the last 2 years has been a constant battle of putting out fires with system performance; finally user complaints have moved getting this resolved as my top priority. Let’s see how I tackled the problem… Symptoms: Very High Disk Latency as high as 300,000 milliseconds (ms) is not unusual Average: 900 – 15,000ms Memory Pressure Slow User Experience Problem: Bad hardware Over-provisioned VM Hosts (what happens on one VM effects the other) Old NetApp SAN No infrastructure budget for new hardware Challenge: Make the system viable with no hardware changes or tweaks Step 1: Brain Storming (in… Continue Reading

This Idera ACE Has Been Busy

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This year has been a whirlwind so far, thanks to the Idera ACE program. For those that don’t know what that is … What is an Idera ACE? (According to Idera) “ACEs (Advisors & Community Educators) are active community members who have shown a passion for helping the community and sharing their knowledge. We help the ACEs pursue that passion by sponsoring travel to select events and offering guidance for soft skill training.” Requirements to become an Idera ACE: Enthusiastic members & leaders of the SQL community Accomplished contributors to the SQL community Good speaker, writer and presenter Demonstrated a passion… Continue Reading

Summit Submission Feedback Response

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I’m It Survival Tips for the Lone DBA – Level 100 (Not Accepted: Higher rated session selected) Track: Professional Development As others have done I also will share my feedback from my submission to speak at PASS Summit in hopes it will lend some more insight into the process. Abstract: Are you the only database person at your company? Are you both the DBA and the Developer? Being the only data professional in an environment can seem overwhelming, daunting, and darn near impossible sometimes. However, it can also be extremely rewarding and empowering. This session will cover how you can keep your… Continue Reading

SSRS Report Won’t Render in VS Preview

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I love getting get a laptop, but getting all the software reinstalled and making sure everything works can be trying. Last week, I was lucky enough to get a new one and spent two days getting it setup just right. At least so I thought…. once I started working on it of course, BAM I hit my first road block. Visual Studio using SQL Server Data Tool will not render any reports in the Preview tab. Let the trouble shooting commence! Error Message? No help… gives me nothing useful Can I deploy report to SharePoint and View? (We use SSRS Integrated Mode)-… Continue Reading

The Shield

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How many of you are known as the “Grumpy DBA” or have a bad reputation with users because you are always saying no or they have to wait? I know many DBAs that have this reputation. To avoid this, I use my manager as a shield and suggest you do too. As a Lone DBA, with an extremely full plate, I learned that having that shield is necessary. It prevents me from being seen as the bad guy and protects me from work overload. We all experience what I call, “Drive Bys”, when people are asking for stuff on the fly. Telling someone… Continue Reading

SQL Family: The Wonder Years

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Last week, Bill Wolf aka @SQLWareWolf and I somehow got onto the topic of High School pictures. So in jest, I decided to post mine and hash tagged it with #SQLHSPics on Twitter. I challenged others to do the same, only really expecting @SQLWareWolf to respond in kind.  I was floored with over 100 picture responses from #SQLFamily. Many of them went searching through attics, yearbooks, called relatives, and other great lengths to be part of it. As always the response was heartwarming and hysterical to say the least. The reason why I am taking the time to blog about it is… Continue Reading