SQL Server Diaries

After configuring Database Mail on a clustered SQL Server 2008 R2 instance using a script based on the Create a Database Mail profile in 4 Steps (or less) article, the test email was not delivered.  Some investigation showed that the email was actually not sent.  I also checked the Database... [Read More]

I was recently installing SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition on a two-node failover cluster (see Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008 R2 on MSDN).  The cluster was working perfectly and the Validate a Cluster Configuration Wizard reported all components in green. I had prepared a slipstreamed... [Read More]

Once the target environment is installed and configured, a database migration cannot commence before the database and the table structures that will hold the new data are in place.  Creating table definitions can be performed using various methods, a couple of which are tools provided with SQL Server, and third-party... [Read More]

With the launch of SQL Server 2012 I decided to check the Microsoft Learning site to find out when the exams will be available.  It seems that the new SQL Server 2012 professional certifications (MCITP) have been reduced to two, one for the Data Platform and another for Business Intelligence.... [Read More]

A colleague recently told me that an SQL Server instance tempdb was installed to the Program Files folder of the C: drive and that occasionally the server was complaining of low disk space.  The only way this could be solved was by restarting the server. The tempdb is a system... [Read More]