The key player in the transactional replication topology is the Distributor. Misconfiguration of the Distributor can lead to increased load on the production server, can interfere with the regular application activities and even cause…
Choosing SEQUENCE instead of IDENTITY? Watch your step.
On the nice sunny day getting this error message can be really frustrating. In fact, it is frustrating on any day. Especially if you are doing something really simple. Most of you at this moment yell at your monitor “DDL…
Grouping events into intervals using hedgehog rolling style
- I have a challenging SQL problem for you, – yelled one of my coworkers one morning entering my office and dropping on his way a few pictures, SQL server system views map and a visitors chair. – Much more interesting than all your alerts…
PASS summit 2013. We do not remember days. We remember moments.
"Business or pleasure?" barked the security officer in the Charlotte International Airport. "I’m not sure, sir," I whimpered, immediately losing all courage. "I'm here for the database technologies summit called PASS”. "Sounds boring.…
Look back and realize how far you came
It appeared out of nowhere while I was having a strong argument with the ton of dust that had taken over my computer room. My former favourite book, "Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL server 2000" brought an upset look to my face, the one I…
Alert visualization recipe: Get out your blender, drop in some sp_send_dbmail, Google Charts API, add your favorite colors and sprinkle with html. Blend till it’s smooth and looks pretty enough to taste.
I really like database monitoring. My email inbox have a constant flow of different types of alerts coming from our production servers with all kinds of information, sometimes more useful and sometimes less useful. Usually database alerts…
Love your enemies.. it pisses them off.
There is always a threat from somewhere. Old-style DBAs are standing on the shaky ground. 5 years ago I remember myself defending the SQL Server against the domineering Oracle DBAs. The arguing was always about “who is better”. The…
SQLCMD Mode: give it one more chance
- Click on me. Choose me. - asked one forgotten feature when some bored DBA was purposelessly wondering through the Management Studio menu at the end of her long and busy working day. - Why would I use you? I have heard of no…
Real tortoises keep it slow and steady. How about the backups?
… Four tortoises were playing in the backyard when they decided they needed hibiscus flower snacks. They pooled their money and sent the smallest tortoise out to fetch the snacks. Two days passed and there was no sign of the tortoise. "You…
Is your TRY worth catching?
A very useful error handling TRY/CATCH construct is widely used to catch all execution errors that do not close the database connection. The biggest downside is that in the case of multiple errors…