Last week, I got the chance to give my I’m It Survival Tips for the Lone DBA in a webcast for the first time thanks to the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Chapter. This is by far my favorite session to give because it’s real life and can pertain to all us. Whether you are a Lone DBA or part of a team, we all encounter the struggles when handling a heavy work load. I always love the interactions I get from this session. It allows us to share our stories and learn from each other. As a Lone DBA you are on call 24/7. You are required to stop everything and fix things…
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Awhile back, if you are on Twitter, you can probably recall my ranting about the 949 indexes I was reviewing. The process was to determine duplicate indexes and consolidate them or discard the unneeded ones. My ranting was not about the duplicates per se it was about the index names. It only takes a second to name an object with some name that tells what the thing is. Below I will show you some examples and give you an easy script that will help you generate your index names. Taking a little time to name things appropriately can go a long way, it can not only be time saving but…
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One of the hardest things you can do as a blogger is to come up with a post topic. Do you make it simple for newbies, technical, or something personal? After figuring out a topic, now you have to write. However, there is a difference in what you say and what will people actually want to read. Blogging is not easy, but without it, all of our google searches to help solve problems would be much less fruitful. It’s important to put your experience into written words to help others, and let’s be honest lots of us use out blog posts to remind ourselves of how we did the first…
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This week is Thanksgiving in the United States, so I thought it fitting to write a quick blog on what I am thankful for as a DBA. These are in no particular order and feel free to respond with something you are thankful for. I’d love to hear it. Glenn Berry’s Diagnostic Scripts- (B|T) Used these for years. Really a great set of scripts and explanations that we all should be grateful for. Ola Hallengren’s (B) Maintenance scripts. Index Optimization, Backup, and Integrity Checks for all! They have become an industry standard and continue to get better and better. RCSI (Read Committed Snapshot Isolation) –My Readers can stop blocking Writers! Thanks…
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Are you using your Model Database to its full potential? I am finding more and more that Database Admins are not using the Model database to its fullest potential and some not at all. What is that Model Database for? The model database is basically the default setup (template) for all other databases created on a SQL Server instance. All databases created after install will inherit the properties of this database. Why Configure It? Using the model can insure consistency within your environment and is a quick way to automate your database setups. Below is a list of things I’ve used in my environments and others. Top (in no particular…
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One of the things I’ve been able to implement to help with performance is changing from Update Statistics Synchronous to Auto Update Statistics Asynchronously. It’s a simple change that can have a big impact when implemented in highly transactional OLTP environments. Notice I said OLTP not OLAP, since data in an OLAP environment tends to not be as dynamic, so it’s rare to enable this in a data warehouse. So, what’s the difference between the two and why does it help? Synchronous (defaulted as AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS =TRUE) By default, when Auto Update Statistics is set to True, the SQL Server Query Optimizer will automatically update statistics when data has met a threshold…
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Okay, here is a pet peeve of mine, I think every stored procedure, function, view etc. should all contain a block of code I refer to as a preamble. If yours doesn’t I strongly recommend you start adding it. It drives me crazy when I see code with no documentation of any kind telling me what it is for and when it was written or changed. Why? A preamble documents the use, need, and changes for the code. It also leaves bread crumbs as to how why and what you did. I don’t know about you but I may code something and not have to change it for two years.…
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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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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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I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on a Podcast episode with the SQL Data Partners Carlos Chacon (B|T) and Steve Stedman (B|T). If you haven’t had a chance to attend one of my sessions on Survival Tips for the Lone DBA, this is great insight into it. I share via questions and answers how it is to be a Lone DBA. http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/03/28/episode-89-lone-dba/
