Recorded Webcast Available: Extend SCOM to Optimize SQL Server Performance Management

June 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Join me and Eric Brown, Quest Software senior product manager for SQL Server monitoring tools, as we discuss the server health-check capabilities of Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) in this previously recorded webcast. We delve into techniques to maximize your SCOM investment as well as ways to complement it with deeper monitoring and diagnostics. You’ll walk away from this educational session with the skills to: Take full advantage of SCOM’s value for day-to-day SQL Server monitoring Extend the capabilities of SCOM to proactively manage SQL Server performance Troubleshoot … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Review the New Migration Guide to SQL Server 2012 Always On

June 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cephas Lin, of Microsoft, last year at the SQL Saturday in Indianapolis and then later at the PASS Summit in the fall. Cephas has been writing content for SQL Server 2012 Always On. Cephas has recently published his first whitepaper, a migration guide to SQL Server AlwaysOn. Read it and then pass along any feedback: HERE Enjoy, -Kev -Follow me on Twitter! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , ,

Two TechNet Radio Sessions You Don’t Want to Miss

June 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was recently honored to speak on TechNet Radio in two separate sessions about BigData & Hadoop and cloud databases (specifically SQL Azure).  The show debuted on the TechNet homepage under “Today’s News” and on the TechNet Edge homepage.  In each of these shows, I did what I like to do for all the parties I attend - bring a friend.  To make my life easier, I simply reposted the verbiage that TechNet used, rather that to write my own. About the BigData/Hadoop video: Microsoft SQL Server MVP Kevin Kline and Vice President of Database Development at Quest Software Guy Harrison (blog | … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Architecture, BigData, Cloud, Databases, NoSQL, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

New Toad for SQL Server Beta

May 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A new beta build of Toad for SQL Server (v5.7.0.527) is available at: http://toadforsqlserver.com/beta.jspa It's free and, afaik, doesn't have a short expiration date.  It contains popular features such as compare & sync (for database schemas, servers, and data), a full transaction log reader and DML undo feature, debugger, intellisense, auto-complete, code formatter, and a lot more.  Check it out!  (There's also a version of Toad for Cloud Databases, which gives you SQL-like capabilities against a bunch of NoSQL databases). This drop contains a couple of fixes in the areas: Database … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cloud, Databases, NoSQL, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, TCD blog post Tagged With: , , , ,

Azure Trust Services

May 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

You might have noticed that Microsoft has recently launched a cool set of Trust Services for Azure.  This is an application-level encryption framework that can be used to protect sensitive data stored on the Windows Azure Platform. One of the hindrances to adoption of Azure that I keep hearing about is trust and security.  If you want to learn more about protecting your data in the cloud you can read up HERE.  I'm not pushing you to get into Azure (even though you should), nor am I subtly trying to make you feel guilty for ignoring the cloud in general nor Azure specifically (subtle, ain't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cloud, Databases, NoSQL, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: , , , ,

‘Backup Completed’ is NOT an Error Message

May 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you're like me, you like for things to be semantically reliable.  Huh? Said another way, I like for things to mean what they say and say what they mean.  Here are a few examples of I get annoyed by failed sematics - when a footpath is used almost entirely by cyclists, when an escalator is merely stairs, or when a restroom has a huge crowd and long lines.  (No rest to be had in that room). So you can bet that I get a little prickly when the "Error Log" is used to post messages that something completed successfully.  Really?  I came here to this error log looking for, wait for it, ... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Databases, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , ,

Flexibility When Waiting on Locks

May 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Speaking at a recent SQL Saturday, an attendee in one of my sessions wanted to know how they could more flexibly react to locks on their application than to wait for blocks to occur and then kill the SPID at the head of the blocking chain.  They were also interested in some alternatives to using the  SQL Server syntax like the WITH (NOLOCK) hint, since that might have unintended consequences due to allowing reads on uncommitted data. One alternative I suggested is the SET LOCK_TIMEOUT n statement.  Since most of the attendees hadn't heard of this statement, I figured it'd make a good blog … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coding, Databases, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Transact-SQL Programming Tagged With: , ,

Build Your Own Microsoft Operations Manager Pack

May 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Operations Manager Management Pack Development Kit I just recently told you about some cool new things happening with System Center - before I stumbled across this tidbit.  Hey, if I could, I'd go back in time and add this entry to the previous one --- yeah, and totally NOT play the stock market to make a fortune through time travel.  But I digress... So the Operations Management Management Pack Development Kit applies to Microsoft Operations Manager 2012 and Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007.  It provide the you with all of the info need to design and build a management pack … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Challenges, Cool Technologies, Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: ,

SQLMag = SQL Server Pro. Goes all-digital!

April 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was recently chatting with Megan Keller, my long-time editor for the Tool Time column and Executive Editor at SQL Server Pro, DevProConnections, and SharePoint Pro. I've subscribed to SQLMag ever since it was first put to print back in the late 1990's.  (That's a pic of me, on the right, in the shirt given my by SQLMag's first publisher way back in the day).  I have many bookshelves in my office, but SQLMag consumes more than half of the shelf closest to my desk.  It's that good.  Some of my personal favorites and perpetual must-read content are the columns SQL Server Questions Answered … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tool Time Tagged With: , , , ,

New White Paper: SQL Server Extended Events and Notifications

April 25, 2012 by 2 Comments

Download the new white paper: How to Use SQL Server’s Extended Events and Notifications to Proactively Resolve Performance Issues SQL Server comes with a wide array of tools for monitoring your environment. There are logs and traces that provide information when errors occur, but these are often used passively to react to events that have already occurred.  There's PerfMon, and Profiler, and loads of Dynamic Management Views to check.  But where to look? As database administrators (DBA), we need to monitor our environments proactively and create solutions as issues arise. In this white … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Cool Technologies, Databases, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , , ,
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