SQL Server Diaries

We recently virtualized a server whose hardware was so dated it would probably have been cheaper to buy a new server than to maintain it. After verifying that it was a good candidate for virtualization, we scheduled a downtime and our virtualization experts converted the physical machine. [Read More]

Linked Servers are easy to set up in all versions of SQL Server.  Using a Linked Server one can connect to databases on the same SQL Server instance, on other instances, other DBMSs such as Oracle, MySQL, Informix and using the appropriae driver (e.g. OLEDB, ODBC, etc.), even Microsoft Access or... [Read More]

This is somewhat of a reminder for SQL Server installations. In a Technet article titled Storage Top 10 Best Practices (published in 2006), Microsoft recomend that, in the case of the TEMPBD database, the number of files is equivalent to the number of CPU’s. The below script is an example... [Read More]

I was recently asked why, when an application was saving datetime values sometimes the actual value stored is different than the one sent to the database.  After investigating the issue I discovered that the programmers were relying on the local/client machine’s Regional Settings to display dates to the end user... [Read More]

I sometimes use the MSSQL Blocks application to monitor and especially collect information related to database locks.  I know that I could use an SQL Profiler trace or a Server-level trace however I found that this application is offers a “start and forget” approach. [Read More]