All Articles - SQL Authority with Pinal Dave

SQLAuthority News – Best Articles on SQLAuthority.com

November 4, 2007

Data Warehousing, Database, DBA, Software Development, SQL Backup and Restore, SQL Coding Standards, SQL Constraint and Keys, SQL Cursor, SQL DateTime, SQL Download, SQL Error Messages, SQL Function, SQL Humor, SQL Index, SQL Joins, SQL Scripts, SQL Server DBCC, SQL Server Security, SQL Stored Procedure, SQL Trigger, SQL Utility

A list of my best articles so far, from killing all processes in a database and shrinking the log file to deleting duplicate rows and UNION vs UNION ALL.

Two people at a desk, one pointing a pencil at a circled box in a hand-drawn diagram

Explaining a Query Plan to a Developer

November 3, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Performance

Developer, Execution Plan, SQL Performance, SQL Server, SQL Statistics

Explaining a query plan starts with the costly work, checks estimates against actual rows, and turns findings into a clear code decision.

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Finding Unused Indexes

November 2, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Performance

Best Practices, DBA, SQL DMV, SQL Index, SQL Server

Finding unused indexes requires a measured window, SQL Server usage counters, and a safe removal test before an index earns a drop decision.

SQLAuthority News – First Birthday of Blog – 365 Post in One Year

November 1, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQLAuthority News

Database, DBA, SQLAuthority Author Visit

Today is the first birthday of this blog: 365 posts in one year, one a day. Thank you to my readers, my family and SQL Server Magazine.

SQL SERVER – Importance of Master Database for SQL Server Startup

October 31, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

SQL Server, SQL System Table

I have received following questions. I will list all the questions here and answer them together.
What is the purpose of Master database?

SQL SERVER – Business Intelligence (BI) Basic Terms Explanation

October 30, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing

Business Intelligence basic terms explained in plain words: BI, data warehouse, data mart, cube and more, so the BI vocabulary is easier to follow.

SQL SERVER – Disable All Triggers on a Database – Disable All Triggers on All Servers

October 29, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

SQL Index, SQL Scripts, SQL Trigger

How to disable all triggers on a database and on the server, which kind of trigger each command touches, and how to turn them back on safely.

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Consolidating Small Instances Onto One Server

October 28, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

DBA, Resource Governor, SQL Instance, SQL Licensing, SQL Server Configuration

Consolidating small instances can reduce hardware sprawl when configuration conflicts, peak workloads, licensing, and migration order are checked.

SQL SERVER – 2005 – Get Current User – Get Logged In User

October 27, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

SQL Function, SQL Scripts, SQL Server Security, SQL System Table

How to get current user for a query in SQL Server 2005: SELECT SYSTEM_USER returns the name of the current context, which helps with debugging and security.

SQL SERVER – Deterministic Functions and Nondeterministic Functions

October 26, 2007

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

SQL Function

Deterministic functions like ABS, DATEDIFF and ISNULL always return the same result for the same input. Nondeterministic functions like NEWID and RAND do not.