Checking That a Patch Really Installed means comparing full versions, reading Setup summary logs, and confirming the startup error log.
SQL SERVER – WARNING – SQL Server Has Encountered N Occurrence(s) of I/O Requests Taking Longer Than 15 Seconds
Seeing ‘I/O requests taking longer than 15 seconds’ in the ERRORLOG? Here is what this common warning means and where to look for the slow disk behind it.
SQL SERVER – SSIS and How to Load Binary Large Objects, or Blobs – Notes from the Field #080
In Notes from the Field #080, Andy recalls his first project loading product images with SSIS and explains how to load binary large objects, or Blobs.
SQL SERVER – Using Package Configurations in SSIS 2012 and Beyond – Notes from the Field #079
Moving to SSIS 2012 or 2014 and worried about losing the Package Configurations you built? Good news: the classic option is still there. Here is how to use it.
SQL SERVER – Generating Row Number Without Ordering Any Columns
ROW_NUMBER needs an ORDER BY clause, but what if you do not want to sort by any column? Here is a simple trick to generate a row number without ordering.
SQL SERVER – Script: Knowing Data and Log Files Are On the Same Drive
At GIDS I talked about keeping data and log files on separate drives. Here is a script that shows which databases have data and Log Files on the same drive.
SQL SERVER – Using “High Performance” Power Plan for SQL Server
A simple, often missed setting on a new server: switch Windows to the High Performance Power Plan. Here is why it matters for SQL Server and where to set it.