SQL Server Diaries

There are various methods to load delimited files to a database. Some might opt to use SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), others the BCP command line application, or write a .NET application which used the SqlBulkCopy Class, while some might choose one of the many non-Microsoft products available on the... [Read More]

This week I’m going to share a handy full database backup script which I find useful when I have to create an out-of-schedule full database backup. All I do is change the database name, the folder where the backup will be stored and execute. Of course this script does not... [Read More]

During a database/application performance investigation we wanted to check which indexes were being used. The database had almost 1,200 indexes (!!) most of which we believed were redundant or partly causing a performance overhead. A quick review of the indexes showed that most were created on one column and only... [Read More]

This week we implemented a database onto a production environment.  The implementation had been tested a number of times to prepare and verify the final set of scripts.  On D-Day we started the implementation according to the previously tested steps and I’m proud to say that all went fine.  We... [Read More]

We were recently applying a number of changes on a test environment and which were due for implementation on the production database once testing was verified. What one of the testers failed to notice was that one of the applications was connecting to the production database instead. Luckily no harm... [Read More]