SQLAuthority News – Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server – Scoping Tool New v1.2

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server helps reduce business risks associated with downtime, performance bottlenecks, and the complexities of deploying and managing an enterprise-level, data management solution. You can read more about Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server in the datasheet over  here. Microsoft has released recently the tool for its Premier Customers. This tool provides all the necessary details to prepare and qualify any environment to receive a risk and health assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server.

You can download Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server – Scoping Tool v1.2 from here.

A Mini Risk and Health Assessment Program You Can Run Yourself

A formal assessment is a paid service, but the questions it asks are ones every DBA can start answering today. Here is the simple checklist I use when I look at a SQL Server for the first time:

• Backups. Does every database have recent backups, and has anyone tested a restore lately?
• Recovery model. Databases in full recovery need regular log backups, or the log keeps growing.
• Integrity. Is DBCC CHECKDB running on a schedule, and does anyone read the results?
• Security. Who is in the sysadmin role, and is the sa login disabled or protected with a strong password?
• Configuration. Is max server memory set, so SQL Server leaves room for the operating system?
• Patching. Is the instance on a supported version with recent updates?
• Disk space. How much free space is left on the data, log and backup drives, and how fast is it shrinking?
• Errors and jobs. What do the error log and failed SQL Server Agent jobs say about the last week?

None of these checks need special tools. A few queries against the system views and msdb will answer most of them. Keep those queries in one folder so the next check takes minutes, not hours. Write the results down, fix the riskiest items first, and repeat the check every few months. The goal is not a perfect score, it is fewer surprises.

If your company does qualify for the formal program, doing this homework first will make that visit far more useful.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.