CSS SQL Server Engineers

Sarah and I have been approached by several customers wanting to know more about sparse file allocation behaviors.   This post attempts to answer those questions. Previous Posts http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/archive/2008/07/10/sql-server-reports...

I ran across an interesting issue when trying to install the Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint on a Windows 2008 server.  We would get the error listed above when trying to install the Add-in.  We choose repair on the Add-in component...

At first glance it appears that ReadTrace has generated an unexpected connect node.  Upon closer inspection the behavior is correct in order to maintain the proper set options for the connection. Trace has both physical and logical connect/disconnect...

We are often asked how to extend the filtering of RML (ReadTrace/OStress) or Profiler.  Filtering during trace production is the preferred method because it typically reduces the overall impact of the Trace on the SQL Server throughput.  ...

Due to a bug in Windows XP builds prior to the XP SP2 hot fix or XP SP3 release you may encounter one of the following bugs while attempting to install SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 SP3 based builds. An application that uses the Sxs.dll file crashes...

When you attempt to change the Login Account for the SQL services [SQL Server, SQL Agent, Full Text, Analysis Services] from the SQL Server Computer Manager tool, you may encounter the following error message: "WMI Provider Error" "Access is denied...

We ran into some interesting situations with the SQL 2005 JDBC Driver (v1.2) and it's use with failover partners. Take the following connection string: jdbc:sqlserver://myserver1;databaseName=AdventureWorks;failoverPartner=myserver2; In this connection...

We came across an issue when trying to load Report Manager.  We would get the following exception: System.ArgumentException: Version string portion was too short or too long. at System.Version..ctor(String version) at System.Web.Configuration.HttpCapabilitiesBase...

This is an extension to by previous post about SQLIOSim data integrity testing. http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/archive/2008/03/05/how-it-works-sqliosim-checksums.aspx SQLIOSim (.exe/.com) is the predecessor to SQLIOStress.   SQLIOSim is SQL Server...

Trace flag 1118 forces uniform extent allocations instead of mixed page allocations.   The trace flag is commonly used to assist in TEMPDB scalability by avoiding SGAM and other allocation contention points. SQL Server 2008 optimized mixed extent...

Many of you have encountered the RDTSC timing variances that I outlined in an earlier blog post:   http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/archive/2006/11/27/sql-server-2005-sp2-will-introduce-new-messages-to-the-error-log-related-to-timing-activities...

MSDN, TechNet, Books Online and other sources outline what Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) is, how to use it and transaction scopes.   Working on an issue this week I found I needed to understand what the trace looked like.  In doing...

Summary When using the RML utilities the logged message or documentation can indicate that use of a trace flag is necessary to change behavior. More Information The RML Utilities use command line parameter ( -T ) as a trace flag to alter the utilities...

I was asked a question as the CSS First Aid Station at SQL PASS 2008 where the Activity Monitor kept showing the SQLCLR wait category as the top waiter, even when no other activity was going on.  After some digging I found that this is a bug and...

From: Robert Dorr [mailto:rdorr@microsoft.com] Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:29 AM To: A SQL PASS MEMBER - CSS First Aid Station Question About SQLIOSim As we discussed at SQL PASS – SQLIOSim is an independent utility and has been used as...

While I was setting up one of my demos for SQL PASS, I starting hitting 401.1 errors.  I was setting up a SharePoint Intergrated setup with Reporting Services. I knew I had a distributed environment, so I accounted for my Kerberos configuration. ...

Summary ReadTrace processing may unexpectedly stop with an assertion if you use the -M or -MF parameters with SQL 2008 trace files. Workaround Do not use the -M or -MF parameters with SQL 2008 trace files. More Information This problem is currently being...

Summary If you use the latest 9.01 release of Reporter and point to a performance analysis database that was loaded by a down-level version of ReadTrace, you may get errors about missing stored procedures such as the following: "Could not find stored...

Once again I'm proud to be part of a team of CSS engineers from Microsoft that will be speaking and participating at the PASS Summit 2008 next week in Seattle, Washington. A nice summary of the CSS participation can be found on the PASS website at: http...

Summary In rare circumstances on systems with UAC enabled, setup of Cumulative Update 1 of the RML Utilities may continue to prompt you for the Microsoft Report Viewer 2008 Redistributable (SP1 or later) even after you have already installed the redistributable...

The following is from a lengthy conversation I had with Kevin Kline.  I believe he will be posting more details along with his "Understanding SQLIOSim Output - http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2007/06/28/understanding-sqliosim-output...

    Version 9.01 of the RML Utilities for Microsoft SQL Server has been released.  This release of the RML Utilities provides support for SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008.  Additionally this release of the...

Summary In rare circumstances ReadTrace may encounter the following SQL Server 2008 assertion error when attempting to execute a parallel query. 11/03/08 00:05:35.139 [0X00003B94] Dumping error record 1 of 2: 11/03/08 00:05:35.139 [0X00003B94] ------...

There is no doubt that virtualization is a hot and popular topic (the number of questions over email I get daily are a testament to that). Therefore, I think it is important for our customers to understand the support policies from Microsoft regarding...

Summary An index out of bounds error can occur while rendering a report in Local Report Viewer Mode with more than one dataset. Outer Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object, an error occurred during rendering of the report. Inner...