One of a DBA from my client contacted me for a quick suggestion when I was working with them on a performance tuning exercise. I always ask for some time to explain the exact problem and behavior. As per the DBA, they are using 3rd party backup solutions to take backups and SQL backup are not happening. When they contacted 3rd party vendor they asked to run command VSSadmin List Writers and check if they have SqlServerWriter listed. Unfortunately, the component is missing from an output. He asked me the possible reasons. Since this was not a performance tuning related question and I promised that I would share whatever information I can find and write a blog post for that.
SQL Server – PowerShell Script – Getting Properties and Details
I write and play around a lot with SQL Server Management Studio and I love working with them. Having said that, I also explore the ways people want to run code to achieve certain objectives. In the DBA’s world when the number of servers we are talking is not a single digit, they are looking for ways to automate and script out. Recently I was at a retail company backend team in India and they said they have close to 1500+ databases which are running at their various outlets and point of sale counters and the DBA team working to manage these were still less than 10. I was pleasantly surprised by this level of details. In this blog post we will learn about Powershell Script.
SQL SERVER – Testing Database Performance with tSQLt and SQLQueryStress
I guess, it is no secret that testing plays a critical part in development of any software product. The more rigorous testing is, the better the final product will be. In this blog post we will be Testing Database Performance with tSQLt and SQLQueryStress.
SQL SERVER – CLONEDATABASE: Generate Statistics and Schema Only Copy of the Database
I have been writing about how some of the interesting enhancements made with SQL Server 2016 SP1 have caught my attention. This one is a killer feature that can be of great value when you are trying to do testing. Having said that, I also want to call out that this feature has been added with SQL Server 2014 SP2 too. When you get into performance problems related to the query optimizer, then this capability will be of great advantage. In this blog post we will learn about Generate Statistics and Schema Only Copy of the Database.
SQL SERVER – CREATE OR ALTER Supported in Service Pack 1 of SQL Server 2016
There are many enhancements which were introduced in Service Pack 1 of SQL Server 2016. If you are a developer, then you can easily understand this productivity improvement. Does below code looks familiar to you? Let us learn about CREATE OR ALTER Supported in Service Pack 1 of SQL Server 2016.
How to Use OR Condition in CASE WHEN Statement? – Interview Question of the Week #102
Question: How to Use OR condition in CASE WHEN Statement?
SQL SERVER – How to Download Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle (MSDAORA) for 64 bit?
During my recent conversation about Oracle linked server with one of my client, I learned something new about “Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle”. This blog has highlights of a lengthy conversation.
SQL SERVER – Unable to bring resource online – Error DoREPLSharedDataUpgrade : Failed to create working directory
A few days ago I wrote a blog about a cluster related issue where the configuration was not same on both the nodes, which was causing issues. SQL SERVER – Unable to bring resource online. Error – Data source name not found and no default driver specified. Let us learn how to fix error related to Unable to bring resource online.
SQL SERVER – Discovery Report – How to Find Information About Installed Features?
Many times, we need to find information about the various features / version of SQL Server installed on a machine. If you ask a DBA, he can provide you information by looking at services and tell what all are installed. He might run some WMI/T-SQL queries to list the services of SQL Server and their versions. Let us learn about the Discovery Report.
SQL SERVER – Performance Analysis of Backup to Azure
It is second to human nature to compare when given options. When I wrote about the blog, SQL SERVER – Playing with Backups and Compression, I did compare some of the space savings one will achieve when working with backups and compression. Though the space savings were significant, one of the blog readers wanted to understand how this would be on time? Is it faster or slower to do the same. I went about taking the same script and I collected the time taken. Let us learn about Performance Analysis of Backup to Azure.