To watch a running query, open Activity Monitor in SSMS 22, find the query in Active Expensive Queries, and open its live execution plan. It also shows the settings that older versions need and a T-SQL query that reads the same facts.
Giving Your First SQL Server Talk at a User Group
Prepare your first SQL Server talk with one real problem, two resettable demos, a timed thirty-minute outline, a rehearsal, and a backup plan.
Device Is Not Ready: Fix Operating System Error 21
Device Is Not Ready is the Windows text behind operating system error 21, which SQL Server reports inside error 823. This post explains what the message means, lists the common causes, and gives read-only checks to run before any restart. It ends with the DBCC CHECKDB step that proves the database is healthy.
Patch Your SQL Server – SQL in Sixty Seconds #100
When did you last time patch your SQL Server? I often discuss this question with my clients, I get many different kinds of answers.
Moving to Azure SQL Database: The Features You Give Up
Plan moving to Azure SQL Database by finding Agent jobs, cross-database references, CLR, FILESTREAM, linked servers, and recovery changes.
TSQL_SCALAR_UDF_INLINING: How to Disable Scalar UDF Inlining
TSQL_SCALAR_UDF_INLINING is the database scoped setting that switches scalar UDF inlining off. This post builds a demo database, proves with execution counts that inlining is on or off, and shows the narrower switches at function and query level. It ends with the undo statement.
Day Name From Date in SQL Server: DATENAME, FORMAT and More
Finding the day name from date values takes one function, but three methods exist, and they differ on language and speed. This post compares DATENAME, FORMAT and a formula that ignores language and DATEFIRST. It measures all three on a million rows and shows how the session language changes the result.