August, 2009

I use Solutions a lot in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), and you should be aware of this simple tip: If you want to open a Solution without having to open SSMS and then jumping through all the menus, just double-click the solution name in the Windows...

I'm in a class this week, and I got a gem from it: "The great enemy of communication is the illusion of it." Pierre Martineau

The other day I rebuilt a test system, and as a result I wanted to restore a few of my test databases. I've done a lot of customization in those, fuzzed some of the private data and so on, that they've moved dangerously close to a "production" database...

OK - this one is a little more involved than the other best practices I've posted here. In fact, I'm going to have to send you off to another document at the end of this post to explain the technical background and the exact steps you need to perform...

They say that DBA's are those who put people into two categories: People who put others into two categories, and people who don't. Perhaps we're not quite THAT bad, but we do tend to see order in our world. But we see it in a particular way. I was...

Between the hardware in your system and the interaction with the operating system are a set of software programs and code called "drivers". These bits of information have the most impact on how well a particular hardware device works with your system...

No commentary needed - if only we would practice this simple statement: "It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say, and then don't say it." - Sam Levenson

I’m speaking at quite a few places in the next few months, from here in Seattle to Florida and Berlin, Germany. I did want to point out the PASS event, although I’m sure you’ve been alerted to it already. I’ll be speaking at PASS on everything from Performance...

Well, I started my evaluation yesterday on SQL Server 2008 R2. The install went pretty smoothly on my Virtual Machine, with one minor irritation. I thoughtI would post it here in case you run into it. As I started the process, the Installation Validation...

SQL Server uses something called the "Query Optimizer" to find the data you're looking for. To do that, there is another mechanism, called "Statistics", which can be created and maintained on columns in a table - even tables that don't have an Index....

SQL Server 2008 R2 is now out, and you can get the "Customer Technical Preview" or CTP here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee315247.aspx But it seems like SQL Server 2008 just came out! I'm still installing and upgrading it on the systems...

Ah, personal responsibility - one of the most unpopular concepts of our day: We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice - that is, until we have stopped saying "It got...

Donald Farmer and I are headed for a smackdown. If you don't know who Donald Farmer is, you probably haven't been to any technical conferences where BI was discussed. He's simply one of the finest minds on the topic that there is. Hius demos are flawless...

When you have very large data sets that reside in a single table, you can use SQL Server's Table Partitioning to "break" the table on logical boundaries like time, and the system handles "putting the data back together" when you query it. It's a great...

As part of my professional "morning ritual", I always parse through various SQL Server Blogs, so I thought I would share a list of those that I follow regularly. Of course, you need to put THIS blog at the top of the list :) - but these are pretty good...

I've downloaded Idera's free Job Manager this morning and I'm going to play with it a little on one of my test systems. Job Management is a difficult thing to visualize, so the Outlook-format this tool has looks interesting to me. Has anyone implemented...

I try and remember this quote whenever I have a big win, or a big failure: "Success isn't permanent and failure isn't fatal." - Mike Ditka

Have you ever sat in a meeting where you either got the distinct impression, or were told directly that you should just use product X or Feature Y to solve a problem?  Sure, we have a lot of features in SQL Server, but I don't think any of them is...

Most of us have three environments in our organizations: Development, Staging, and Production. But I don't count Staging as a test system. Sure, I use it to do an integration test for code before it goes to the users, but that's not the only kind of testing...

Inside SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), there's a feature I don't see used a great deal. It's called a "Project" and in effect it's just a way to bundle files, connections and scripts into a single package that you can navigate within SSMS...

Want some free training? I think Microsoft does an amazing job of getting training out for free. If you need a boost for your career, are just starting out, or need to re-tool after a layoff, or if you just want to become more familiar with the latest...