This year will be my 6th PASS Summit that I will have attended. Some people have asked me why I still go, and what I get out of Summit that I don’t get from attending and speaking at SQL Saturdays. That’s an easy one for me to answer, but a long answer at that. Networking First and foremost, it’s for the networking. Getting to meetup with so many other like minded people is gratifying. This networking allows you to exchange ideas, war stories, and downright geek out with others that know what you are talking about and don’t have their eyes glaze over when discussing optimizer internals. On top of…
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Let’s take a look at what a Sequence is in relation to an Identity Column in SQL Server. Did you know Sequence even existed? I didn’t until I was asked about them. It’s amazing how much you can skip over and never notice in SSMS. See this little folder, ever notice it under Programmability in Management Studio. Yep it’s there, SQL Server has this very handy thing called Sequences. Sequences are a relatively new feature that have only existed since SQL Server 2012, but have long existed in Oracle (where there a no identity columns). What is a Sequence? Per MSDN, A sequence is a user-defined schema bound object that generates…
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Today I ran into something on a client server I unfortunately see too often. The DBA goes through the trouble of configuring and setting up alerts\operators but doesn’t really understand what the options in the configurations mean. So unfortunately, that means they take the CYA (cover your ass) approach and they check all of them. Now, not only have I seen this with alerts but also with things like security configurations as well. My advice is to always in to take a second and research what each option is before you check the little boxes, especially when it comes to security. Always follow the rule of less is more. In…
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OK So, I am doing some digging and peaking around again in SQL Server and came across a database option called Date Correlation Optimization Enabled = False. Honestly, I had no clue what it did, so I took it as a learning opportunity to look into it and do a little research. Who knows, it may actual help me solve one of the many problems I run into day to day for clients. Syntax ALTER DATABASE DEMO SET DATE_CORRELATION_OPTIMIZATION ON; So, What Does It Do? According to MSDN – The DATE_CORRELATION_OPTIMIZATION database SET option improves the performance of queries that perform an equi-join between two tables whose date or datetime columns are correlated,…
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Ever wander around SQL Server properties and wonder what these little check boxes turn on? I do, and I get very tempted to check them. Here is one of those tempting little boxes that seems pretty handy, Use query governor to prevent long running queries. Syntax EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1; GO RECONFIGURE ; GO EXEC sp_configure 'query governor cost limit', 180; GO RECONFIGURE; GO How Does it Work? It’s simple. This option, available in SQL Server 2008 standard and forward, will prevent long running queries based on run time measured in seconds. If I specify a value of 180 the query governor will not allow any execution of…
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Please, please, please Admins do not leave your default index fill factor at 0. This means you are telling SQL Server to fill the page 100% full when creating indexes. This also means you are forcing it to a new page when additional inserts are done. These are called PAGE SPLITS which can take time to perform and is a resource intensive operation. Having a high fill factor will cause more index fragmentation, decrease performance and increase IO. If you find that this is how your system is configured, all is not lost. You can correct this by changing the default value so that new indexes will be created with…
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Every once in a while, I like to take a moment and learn something new about the latest SQL Server gizmos and gadgets. Today I came across system-versioned temporal tables and it peeked my interest, so I figured I’d investigate and share my finding with you. How many of you have need to track data changes over time? I’ve needed this many times for things like auditing, investigating data changes, data fixes, and trend analysis of values over time. Having to do this is the past has been a very daunting task at times and sometimes nearly impossible. This is where system-versioned temporal tables will really help out. They have…
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How many of you check the amount of Virtual Log Files (VLFs) your transaction logs have? Working as a consultant now, I see this as something that is often ignored by DBAs. This is an easy thing maintain and yet so many don’t know how to. Keeping these in check can give you a performance boost not only on startup but with your insert/update/delete as well as backup/restore operations. SQL Server performs better with a smaller number of right sized virtual log files. I highly recommend you add this to your server reviews. What is a VLF? Every transaction log is composed of smaller segments called virtual log files. Every…
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Last week I started a multi-part series on Today I Learned (TIL) about Microsoft Azure. This is part two of what I am learning in Azure. Today’s topic is simply about Tenants, Subscriptions, Subscription Roles, Resource Groups, and Tags. It’s Always Good to Start with Pictures Here is a glimpse of how these topics relate. I will define and explain each below. What is a Tenant? In simplest terms, a Tenant is container for multiple subscriptions. An example of two subscriptions would be Azure and Office 365. They would be owned by one account, an individual or a company. A very large enterprise may use multiple subscriptions to better manage…
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I thought maybe it would be a good idea to start a multi-part series on Today I Learned (TIL) about Microsoft Azure. As part of my new job I am currently learning as much about Azure as possible. As I learn things, I will blog to share what I am learning. It will cover beginner level things initially and gradually progress to more advanced topics. Today’s topic is simply…. What the heck is Azure, how do I get to it, and what is the difference between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS? What is Azure? According to Microsoft. “Microsoft Azure is a growing collection of integrated cloud services that developers and IT professionals…
