Understand distributed availability groups, connect two existing groups across sites, inspect health, and plan recovery without one cluster.
Recycling the Error Log on a Schedule and Keeping Enough History
Keep SQL Server logs readable by recycling the error log weekly, retaining enough archives, setting a size cap, and checking history.
Ordering a Maintenance Window: Backups, CHECKDB and Index Work
Order a maintenance window by listing Agent schedules, separating CHECKDB, backups, index work, and statistics, then tracking growth.
Find SQL Server Agent Job Failures Before Users Do
Agent job failures hide in msdb until someone reads the history. This post builds three demo jobs, then finds the failed step and its message, the job that runs too long, the job that never starts, and the jobs that notify nobody.
Server Configuration as Code
Configuration as code keeps SQL Server instance settings in reviewed scripts, with environment values, drift checks, and repeatable application.
SQLAuthority News – A Conversation with an Old Friend – Sri Sridharan
My GTalk chat with old friend Sri Sridharan on why he is running for the PASS Board of Directors again after coming so close last year.
Non-Updating Updates: Skipping Rows That Would Not Change
An UPDATE that writes the same value still marks the row as modified. I show how IS DISTINCT FROM skips those rows and keeps NULL changes.