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Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy describes how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our website and services.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information that you provide directly to us, such as when you create an account, make a purchase, or contact us for support. This may include your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and payment information.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Fixing Missing SQL Agent Jobs After a Migration

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been doing migrations fairly continuously for the past 18 months. PowerShell has been my primary mechanism for many parts of the process, including copying jobs from the source SQL Server to the target. That has worked almost without incident each time. However, recently, an app team noticed that there were SQL Server Agent jobs missing on their new 2022 SQL Servers. Because the first couple of missing jobs also existed on their Development environment, they were able to recreate those jobs in production. They naturally expressed concern that other jobs may be missing.

How to Check SQL Server Security Part 3

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In the previous two parts we’ve reviewed investigating logins to SQL Server, which operate at the top server level. We’ve also reviewed looking at logins at the database level. Today, I’ll be showcasing another couple of ways to view SQL Server security information.

Open source provides a lot of fantastic scripts and software. One of the more popular ones is the First Responder Kit. In that collection of scripts is sp_Blitz. This script is great because it provides a lot of information. The script results can also be problematic, because it provides so much information. On my little SQL Server I use for testing scripts and writing demos, sp_Blitz returned 68 rows across 8 priority levels or categories of issues. Again, wonderful if you want to see all the things! But, what if you’re trying to focus on a particular type of issue, like security? What do you do then?

How to Check SQL Server Security Part 2

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a previous post we started reviewing SQL Server security at the server level by looking at Logins. Is that enough though? It definitely isn’t! We need to look at the users at the database level as well. So, let’s do that.

Again, the internet is awash with scripts and options so let me give you a place to start.

Kenneth Fisher’s sp_DBPermissions

From the comments in the stored procedure, “This stored procedure returns 3 data sets. The first data set is the list of database principals, the second is role membership, and the third is object and database level permissions.”

Speaking at the PASS Data Community Summit

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

My favorite thing that happened this year was that I was a speaker at the PASS Data Community Summit in November. I presented an online live stream at the world’s largest SQL Server conference, and I did it while in-person at the conference in Seattle! Speaking at the Summit has been a bucket list type item for me for many years.

There is a sense of deep humility in being chosen to present at this conference. The SQL Server community is vast and full of really smart people. Because of this, being chosen to speak is a big honor. I had put in a lot of effort over the last year or so trying to give back to the community that has helped me so much over the years. The Summit has a wide range of topics and technical levels. There is something for everyone who works with SQL Server.

SQL Server Indexing Basics - 7 Lessons Learned

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

SQL Server indexing basics are critical to query and server performance. Resources, like CPU and disk, are affected by the indexes that you have, or the ones you’re missing.

In the StackOverflow2013 database we’re going to look at Badges and users. Specifically, I want to start by seeing what badges a user has and when that user received them. Some badges, because of the type of badge it is, can be awarded more than once.

6 Reasons to Learn PowerShell

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

SQL Server professionals may be reluctant to start using PowerShell.

After all, you already know T-SQL well and can do a lot with that to manage SQL Server.

I’ve been using PowerShell to manage SQL Server for the last 5 years and it has revolutionized how I interact with SQL Server. For example, I recently needed to update a SQL Agent job across the entire production environment. That’s almost 100 SQL Servers. I have a Central Management Server with folders for each product in my employer’s portfolio. Then there are folders for Dev, Staging and Prod. I could have manually clicked into the first product family then the prod folder and right clicked that to make a connection to all the SQL Servers in that prod folder. Then I copy paste my script in there to run it against those prod servers I’ve connected to.

Getting Started With SQL Server

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I see a lot of questions on data related Reddit forums and data science groups on LinkedIn about how to get started with SQL. Certainly these people mean that they want to learn the SQL language. I don’t think you can do that long term without setting up a home lab. You need your own place to experiment beyond what you can do in an online tutorial where you’re typing into a web browser, for example.

SQL Server 2019 CU 16 Introduces Problems for Log Shipping

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As a data professional managing SQL Servers, you need to be thinking about Windows and SQL Server patching.

You want to stay up to date, but you also have to be careful because sometimes staying fully up to date comes with the risk that a new patch might break a feature you are using. This is possibly the case for SQL Server 2019 CU 16. If you’re using Log Shipping on a database that has TDE enabled and compression is enabled on those backups, then you need to take heed.

One Key Mistake When Installing SQL Server

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

There’s one sure-fire way to set yourself and your applications up for failure when using SQL Server. I’ve seen all kinds of people do this.

It will cost you performance and create maintenance headaches down the road.

Let me explain what it is and why it causes trouble.

Hit next, next, next on the installer, accepting all the defaults, and leave it that way.

Racing through the installer accepting defaults will:

3 ways to verify that a backup has taken place

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As data professionals responsible for SQL Server, it is drilled into our heads that we need to take backups. But, how do we know we actually have backups available to us when we need them? How can we verify that a backup has been taken? Some types of auditing that an employer has to undergo might require proof of backups. How will you provide it?

Here are 3 ways I can think of off the top of my head.

SQL Server 2012 End of Support Migration Plan

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Today is end of support for SQL Server 2012. May it rest in peace.

Migrating a SQL Server can be a lot of work. There are so many things to think about. It’s a pain.

Live view, upgrading SQL Server

Let me offer you a template of steps to get you started on your planning.

Here’s a quick overview of my process:

Run Database Migration Assistant against the source SQL Server to get a report of incompatibilities and breaking changes in relation to my target version and edition.

A Look Back at SQL Server 2012

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

SQL Server 2012 extended support ends July 12, 2022 – no more patches of any kind. I hope this isn’t news to you, and you’re already planning a migration. Before I post about a migration plan, though, I’d like to take a look back at SQL Server 2012.

What were some new features in SQL Server 2012, and how did they fare over time?

Administrative Features in SQL Server 2012

AlwaysOn Availability Groups:

How To Read The SQL Server Error Log

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Reading the SQL Server Error Log is important when troubleshooting many issues for SQL Server. Some example issues would be errors related to Always On Availability Groups, long IO occurrence messages, and login failures.

Unfortunately, the SQL Server Error Log can be very full of information, making specific things hard to find, especially if you’re just visually scrolling the Error Log. Even if you’re recycling the Error Log each day and keeping 30 or more days of error log, on a busy system, the error log can still be quite full, even for a single day.

3 Tips for Writing Good Code as a SQL Developer

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

SQL Server Developers are under-rated.

That’s right! I’m a DBA and I said, “SQL Developers are under-rated.” Dedicated SQL Developers help I.T. teams by writing efficient code that gets just the data that is needed and in a way that leverages how the database engine works best. How do you ensure you’re doing great work for your company and building code that will stand the test of time?

I’m so glad you asked!

How to Check SQL Server Security Part 1

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

You know you need to be thinking about SQL Server security, but maybe you’re not sure where to start. Topics like firewalls and ports and port scanners and such may be dancing your mind. Those are good things to think about, but they are not under your sphere of influence as a data professional in charge of SQL Server. So, what can you do?

Your first place to start is by looking at the Logins, which as I’ve explained in a previous post, are at the level of the SQL Server instance level.

How to Build a SQL Server Inventory Using PowerShell

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

You’re a data professional and you’ve been given the keys to a new SQL Server environment. You know you need to build a SQL Server inventory so you know what is in your environment, but how do you get that information?

One of the things I have talked about in other posts is how to create a SQL Server inventory. I’ve discussed using the MAP Toolkit and building your own inventory database using T-SQL. Today, we’ll see another way to generate a list of SQL Servers in your environment.

How to Build a SQL Server Inventory Using T-SQL Scripts

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

You need to create a SQL Server inventory. Without this information, you’ll be unaware of critical information about the environment your responsible to manage.

We’re on a journey to make sure that you as a DBA know what SQL Servers are in your environment so you know what you’re responsible for managing. As your guide, I discussed in a previous post, how to get started with using the MAP Toolkit from Microsoft to get a list of SQL Servers in your environment and some key metadata about them.

Is it ok to use proprietary database features

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I was recently thinking of SQL Server temporal tables and how there is a perspective that you shouldn’t use proprietary features of a product because it locks you into that product. I want to be your guide on this matter.

Database platforms are typically long term decisions

First of all, that product was chosen for a reason so it’s unlikely that any time soon it’s going to be replaced. This is especially true if we’re talking about database platforms. Doing that type of wholesale swap out is expensive because you’re paying you’re employees to do the long, tedious work to do that platform switch.

What Are SQL Server Logins and Users

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

You’re a data professional learning about managing SQL Server and you’ve been asked to grant permissions for SQL Server to an individual or a group of individuals. What do you need to understand in order to accomplish this? I’ll be your guide to getting started with handling access to SQL Server.

Let’s start with an analogy.

Keys and fobs are common place these days for vehicles. Sometimes if you have a fob it ties into the ignition allowing for push button start so no key is needed for that. That’s not always the case though. Many people still have key and fob combos on their key ring. For our purposes, we’re going to assume that is the case.

Building a SQL environment inventory with the MAP Toolkit

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The MAP Toolkit, also called the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, is a standard way to obtain information about your Microsoft environment. This includes your SQL Server. The tool is so common that a link to it is included in the SQL Server media. This tool will scan your network and provide a fairly comprehensive report on SQL Servers it finds. The direct link to the MAP Toolkit download is located here. Be sure to download all the files from that page.

6 Ways to Advance Your IT Career

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The “Great Resignation” is upon us, or so the internet tells us. People want better working conditions, better wages, just… better. Large swaths of people are trying to advance their careers. Here are 6 ways to advance your IT career.

Accept that long term loyalty to a small to mid-sized company is likely keeping your salary low and limiting opportunities.
Use the wizards at salary.com to plug in the job titles you want and discover what you should be making.
Focus on building technical skills, especially early in your career
Work on your interviewing skills
Start blogging
Start presenting

How to Advance Your IT Career: Here is How I did It

I realized that long term loyalty to my small to mid-sized company was keeping my salary low.

Career growth opportunities were limited. The company I was in when I launched my IT career probably had 200-300 people in their corporate office and there were 8-12 local offices that had maybe 5-10 people working out of each of them. So, less than 500 employees. We weren’t big.

Error Messages 8114 or 22122 When Performing Change Tracking Cleanup

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

You’re a data professional and you’re trying to keep up with patching a wide range of SQL Server versions and editions. How do you know what’s in the CU and whether you should apply it or not? My favorite way to read up on CUs is to go to SQLServerUpdates and click around there. It will take you to the latest CU pages as well as give you a way to see previous CUs that are available.

Thoughts On Pass Data Community Summit 2021

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Pass Data Community Summit was November 10-12 and was hosted and sponsored by RedGate along with other supporting sponsors like Microsoft and smaller companies like MinionWare. Having been to last year’s virtual Summit, I think this one was done much better.

Pre-conference Sessions

There were a big collection of pre-conference sessions. I attended “AWS for SQL Server Professionals” because my current employer is entirely in AWS. Erin Stellato had an all day session on Query Store that I attended as well. For a shorter, one hour version of this presentation, click here to go to a YouTube presentation by Erin at the Saint Charles SQL Server Meetup. I learned a lot in both all day sessions and I plan on attending pre-conference sessions next time as well.

6 Steps to Build a Training Plan

Wed, 10 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

As an athlete there is a certain amount of preparation that goes into being selected to be on a team, competing for a starting role and then being competitive with the opponent. For tennis players to be competitive and go to the finals in Wimbledon, it takes hours and hours of training, practice, and discipline to eat well before ever stepping on the court in a tournament. To make a basketball team, takes hours of practice by yourself on a basketball court and competing with others and your team mates. To make the starting line up takes hard work, outside of game day. A certain hunger and desire to grow and be more than you currently are is important as an athlete.

6 things to consider when presenting

Mon, 08 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Things to consider when presenting

I’ve presented a few times recently and discovered I like doing it. Presenting is a great way to give back to the I.T. community - in this case the SQL Server community. I’ve previously blogged about things I learned from giving my first presentation, and what it was like presenting at New Stars of Data. Here are six additional thoughts on presenting.

Be sure you show up early for your presentation

The day of New Stars of Data, I was up 90 minutes earlier than usual to use the link to the track I was in to join a panel discussion in progress. I just wanted to be sure that the link was going to work and catch a bit of that presentation. I also wanted to be sure I was wide awake when it was time for me to present. Slumber does not mix well with presenting!

What is it like to be a presenter at the News Stars of Data virtual conference

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Back in early July 2021, I presented at the SQL Server Meetup I co-host with Anthony Fortner. We had a speaker no show a couple of months prior and then for the July meeting a speaker had to cancel about a week before the meeting. I couldn’t let another month go by with no Meetup. So, I created a presentation from nothing, practiced it and gave it live for the first time in about a 7 day time span. It took about 15 hours of work and was my first SQL Server presentation to a public group. I learned a number of things from that experience. Then I gave a revamped version of the presentation to New Stars of Data in late October.

Four Areas to Focus on When You Start A New DBA Role

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

You’ve just been hired into a DBA role at a new company, or you’ve been given the DBA keys at your current company. Maybe you’re a SysAdmin and your boss has informed you that you are now supposed to manage the SQL Servers as well as everything else on your plate. In any of these situations, you may have some confidence in your skills, but especially in the case of being a new hire, you have absolutely no true idea of what you’re walking into.

Three Keys to SQL Server Performance

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Everyone wants good performance from their database systems. Some even expect and need a high performing Ferrari all the time. How is this achieved though? What do you need to understand about SQL Server specifically in order to make your company’s applications hum along like a well tuned car? We will look at three keys to SQL Server performance.

SQL Server Performance

SQL Server Memory

1. SQL Server must be able to cache sufficient data in memory

How I Became a Database Administrator

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I recently saw a Tweet from Kendra Little where she asked the simple question, “What got you into databases?” I’m intrigued by people’s stories of how they got into their current careers so I looked through the thread. There were lots of interesting paths shared and even a blog post was shared by someone who had recently written about how they got into a career involving databases. Kendra’s question and all of the interesting responses inspired me to write a post about my story.

How to Use the SQL Server CONCAT Function

Mon, 20 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

SQL Server concatenation methods have been enhanced in modern versions of SQL Server. SQL Server 2012 introduced the CONCAT() function. In SQL Server 2017 we get CONCAT_WS().

A common usage of concatenation, or joining column values together in a string, is combining a FirstName and LastName column into a FullName column. Another common usage might be for creating an address column that pulls together building number, street, city and zip code.

How to Configure SQL Server Temporal Tables Part 2

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In the initial post, we talked about some very basic items to get you up and running with temporal tables. In part 2, I’ll cover a few more things to think about and implement when working with temporal tables.

In the first post, we looked at altering an existing table to be a temporal table. Now we will look at what is involved in making a table be a temporal table from the very beginning.

How to Configure SQL Server Temporal Tables

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Temporal tables were a new feature in SQL Server 2016. They allow for the tracking of changes without having to set up change tracking, change data capture or triggers. For certain uses, they are not a replacement for something like change data capture, but would work if the purpose is simply having a record of changes. Temporal tables can also be used for auditing changes to data as well as point-in-time analysis where users might want to compare data changes over time, or even at a specific point in time.

Copyright

Sun, 08 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Copyright

All of the entries on this blog are copyright by Lee Markum. The full content of any post (a post is an entry on the blog) may not be published elsewhere without prior permission from the copyright holder. Portions from blog posts may be posted elsewhere provided they are short (around 10% of any given post) and are attributed to me by name and they must include a link back to this blog, which is currently located at https://leemarkum.com

How To Use Powershell to Configure Multiple Databases for Log Shipping

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I recently needed to configure log shipping for multiple databases at once as part of a migration project. I turned to PowerShell to do this.

But before we get to that part, this post assumes that you’ve done the upfront work to create shares for the backups to write to and for the backups to be copied to. This will involve providing the right permissions for the SQL Server service accounts involved in Log Shipping. If you are not familiar with this, that’s perfectly fine. Check out this article in MS Docs first.

What I Learned From Giving My First Presentation

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I recently was thrust into a conundrum. I suddenly found myself in need of a speaker for a recent SQL Server Meetup this month. My co-organizer and I had one week to find a presenter, set up a new Meetup, and then publicize so people outside of Meetup would know about it. I decided that was too short notice to go out to Twitter and ask for volunteers to speak.

What I've Been Doing Recently

Mon, 12 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dear readers, it’s been a little while since my last blog post. Life is busy and so I’ve been away for a little bit. I am hoping to get back into the swing of things with more blogging though.

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

Keeping a SQL Server Meetup going. I’ve been working with my co-organizer, Anthony Fortner, to discuss group details and get speakers lined up. I’ve had some difficulty with that recently and I need to go back to the community on Twitter and probably review Sessionize to find some additional people who regularly present.
Finding and transitioning to new employment. Finding new work feels like a full time job. There is a lot of energy that goes into the process. I found a new home about six weeks ago.
Because of the new job I landed, I’ve been figuring out a plan of attack for learning the necessary things about SQL Server in AWS. I’ll likely provide a list of those resources and my plan in a separate blog post.
Watching the 6 part series on Azure SQL from Anna Hoffman and Bob Ward. Coming soon there will be a blog series on their videos. I may use these videos and the Azure SQL learning paths on Microsoft Learn to pursue the DP-300 certification.
Continuing to take care of myself. I’ve stuck to my routine of taking Saturdays off as described here. I’ve been watching parts of the NBA Finals with my family and that has been fun and relaxing.
I built and gave my first recorded, public presentation on SQL Server. You can find that here.

I would love to hear from you. Reach out to me via email, leem@leemarkum.com, or on Twitter.

Steps I Took To Handle Burnout

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I am telling my story about steps I took to handle burnout, but I want to put a disclaimer at the beginning. I am not a mental health professional. Do not construe anything I say to be professional mental health advice.

I’ve always wanted to be a high impact person. I want my life to count for something. I think most people want that. In the United States, where the idea of “living the American dream” is prominent, this desire to make a difference and to live the dream often leads to people living life by going as fast as possible. By late 2020 I found myself doing that. I found myself going in too many directions.

My Availability Group Database Isn't Synchronizing

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I currently manage 5 AlwaysOn Availability Groups. Two are on SQL Server 2014 and overdue for an upgrade, while three of them are on SQL Server 2017. From time to time I have run into a couple of different situations that I needed to troubleshoot and I want to tell you where to look and what to check on in these scenarios. I can’t possibly tell you about everything that could go wrong, but I can tell you about my experience with AlwaysOn Availability Groups and let you decide if that experience helps you or not.

SQL Server Query Store Overview

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Query Store came out in SQL Server 2016. It was the next evolution of Microsoft’s attempts to provide valuable performance data. In this post you’re going to learn a bit about the history of native monitoring in SQL Server, why you should be using the Query Store, as well as how to view the information made available in SQL Server Query Store. This post is just an overview meant to get you to jump into using the feature. This feature is rich enough that someone can present on it easily for an entire day.

Measuring Your DBA Skills

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Over the last 9 weeks I took you on a journey of skills and career topics related to being a SQL Server DBA. We looked at the Production DBA. We saw skills and career topics from the beginning to mid-career to Senior DBA. Then we looked at the Development DBA and their skills and career development needs. Finally there was a wrap up post.

To make it easier for everyone to get to these posts, I decided to bring them all together on a single page.

Insufficient System Memory - Failed Allocate Pages

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Unable to Start SQL Server

In my own local SQL Server I ran across a problem starting the SQL instance. I went to SQL Server configuration Manager and manually started the SQL Server instance. The UI showed the instance had started. I opened SSMS and tried to connect. And I waited, waited and waited some more until it didn’t connect and threw an error.

How To Locate the SQL Server Error Log

I knew I could look at the SQL Server Error Log to get more information on what had gone wrong. I browsed to the directory where the log file is. For any system that is found by going to the drive where the binaries have been installed and go to \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\SQLServerVersionNumber.InstanceName\MSSQL\Log. In that location you will look for files like Errorlog, errorlog.1 through errorlog.6 The file with no number at the end is the most recent Error Log. Double click it and open in your favorite viewer. As I read through the file, I came across the below.

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 9

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Production and Development DBA Skills and Things We Didn’t Touch On

We’ve covered a lot of ground for Production and Development DBAs in terms of the skills and applicable career topics. We’ve mentioned necessary skills with T-SQL, backup/restore, automation, PowerShell, troubleshooting, SSIS, SSRS, patching, Query Store, HA/DR, leadership and emotional intelligence. That’s quite a list! However, looking back at the series, there are still a number of things that weren’t mentioned.

Introduction To PowerShell For The DBA Part 3

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hello dear reader! This is the third post in a series to help you get started automating things with PowerShell. You will be looking at how to start and stop SQL Server using PowerShell as well as setting the Max Server Memory setting, measuring free disk space and more.

This series is just an introduction to PowerShell and basic functionality you might be interested in as a SQL Server Database Administrator or as a System Administrator responsible for SQL Server. Because it is introductory I don’t have examples of long scripts that do a series of complex things as part of these posts. What the series does have are one or two line scripts that are still powerful and help you explore what is available to you in PowerShell.

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 8

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Senior Development DBA

You’ve now likely reached the last stop in your career as a Development DBA. You have arrived at the Senior level. What skills do you have or should you be working on as a Senior Development DBA? I’m glad you asked. Let’s find out.

Senior Development DBA – 7+ years of experience

1. Most competencies from the previous levels.
2. Advanced analysis of SQL Server Performance issues using advanced techniques to increase performance and/or stability. This could involve server level monitoring and analysis to identify issues or concerns.
3. Makes decisions regarding SQL Server architecture, development strategies and overarching performance considerations, often in tandem with Development team or even the Infrastructure team.
4. Regularly participates in code reviews of mid-level to Senior Devs and other DBAs, offering best practices and guidance and may assist in implementation.
5. Fosters and protects healthy development environment, including Source control, controlled or automated migrations, and advanced development/QA Data curation via data masking technologies and potentially other methods.
6. Makes significant contributions to the design of migrations and upgrades for SQL Server and may provide assistance to other, more junior members of the team, when it comes to implementation.
7. Leads knowledge sharing in four or more areas.
8. May contain competencies from Production DBA levels up to level 2 or 3.
9. Regularly demonstrates good self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management skills (emotional intelligence

Automating SQL Server Processes

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 7

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Lead Development DBA

Over the past few weeks I have been writing about DBA skills for various career levels, and for a couple of different DBA types - the Production DBA and the Development DBA. Today, we’re examining the Lead Development DBA. You’ll discover what this person needs to know.

DEV DBA III/Lead Development DBA – 5 to 7 Years

All competencies from previous level.
Manages most administrative aspects of non-prod environments without assistance from other DBAs.
Participate in T-SQL development and database design of advanced complexity.
Investigates potentially complex data issues within SQL Server.
May have several years of progressive experience with SSIS, SSRS or SSAS.
Administers source control systems for the environment.
Regularly automates tasks. This should include the use of T-SQL, SQL Server Agent, and PowerShell. May include the use of other languages like Python or C#.
Creates and manage design documentation related to development work.
Regularly explores, learns and implements new SQL Server development features. Examples would include new T-SQL enhancements and new feature sets like Temporal Tables for SQL Server 2016 and Data Virtualization for SQL Serer 2019..
Advanced understanding of execution plans, indexes, and query tuning.
Investigate complex data integrity/repair issues within SQL Server.
Leads in knowledge sharing in two or more areas from levels I, II, or III.
Assists with SQL Server migrations and upgrades in DEV/QA or production.
Mentors Junior DBA’s and Developers.
Participates in code reviews.
May contain competencies from Production DBA levels up to level 1 or 2.
Demonstrates emotional intelligence and may take an interest in leadership roles.

So let’s dive into a few of these points in the skill list.

Introduction To PowerShell For The DBA Part 2

Sun, 22 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In Part 1 of this series we began to look at how you can leverage PowerShell as a DBA and there was a brief discussion about automation. Today you will experiment with the DBATools command Copy-DbaLogin and learn about Out-Gridview and the -whatif switch.

Let’s suppose you have one, or more logins you need to get from one SQL instance to another. Perhaps you are setting up a new test environment for SQL Server 2019 and you need to move this login to that environment. Maybe this is one node of a SQL Server AlawaysOn Availability Group and you need to get this login, with its SID, on each node of the AG. Below you see I have a screenshot of a login called mysqltestlogin. It’s on a SQL Server 2017 instance.

Introduction To PowerShell for the DBA Part 1

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Automating Tasks With PowerShell

What we’re really talking about in this series is automation, specifically by using PowerShell. Now, in simple terms, automation is about removing the human, manual element in doing tasks. Why should you care about that? Automation will provide the following benefits:

Automation saves you time
Automation provides consistency
Automation results in reduced and easier troubleshooting
Automation can use your current inventory of T-SQL Scripts
Automation is easier to get started with than you think
Automation skills are a mostly required skill for career advancement

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 6

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Development DBA II

With the last post, we began talking about the Development DBA and the skills needed at the beginning of this career path. Now it’s time for you to ponder what the next level looks like.

Development DBA II – 2 to 4 Years of Experience

All competencies from level 1
Develop basic to intermediately complex stored procedures, triggers, views and other database objects.
Will have some experience with SSRS, SSIS, and/or SSAS development, deployment and possibly administration.
May administer source control systems for the environment.
Promotes SQL changes from Dev up through all environments, including production.
Contributes to automation, particularly using native SQL Server methods, but could also leverage PowerShell or other languages for automating tasks (Python, C#, etc.)
Designs pre-prod testing of SQL code prior to production upgrades or migrations. This includes performance and regression testing.
Basic to mid-level understanding of execution plans, indexes, SQL Server statistics, and query tuning.
Investigate basic to moderately complex data integrity/repair issues within SQL Server
May begin leading in knowledge sharing in some capacity in one or more areas from level I or II.
May take an active interest in leadership and in development of leadership skills, including emotional intelligence.

In years 2 through 4 the Dev DBA will work with more complex T-SQL such as recursive CTE’s, and error handling with TRY CATCH or the THROW syntax will likely be introduced at this stage. You may begin writing database views during this part of your career and leveraging them to make query writing a bit simpler for yourself and others. You are likely to be exposed to T-SQL Triggers and you’ll need to understand them and even maybe write a few triggers of your own.

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 5

Mon, 09 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Development DBA

We’ve been on a journey recently in this series as we discuss measuring your DBA skills. Previous posts have been intriguing to you. You like where this is going and yet, your skills are different from what we’ve been discussing in this initial part of the series.

Maybe you are a Developer who works with databases and you find SQL Server very interesting. You build some tables and write some queries as part of your work and you really like doing it. You like trying to figure out how to make your initial draft query for your project run faster. You have conversations about this with other Developers or maybe even a DBA or two at your company. What you hear resonates with you and deepens the interest in SQL Server. You wonder, “Is there a place for me in the SQL Server world? What would I do if I did a career pivot to work with SQL Server almost exclusively?” Enter the Development Database Administrator.

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 4

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Dear reader, we’ve been on a bit of a journey recently so that you can discover what skills are needed at various levels or phases of your career. The first three phases have been covered in previous blog posts and you have now come to the Senior level for the Production DBA. So, how do you measure the skills a Senior Production DBA should have?

Senior Production DBA – 7+ years of experience

Most competencies from the previous levels.
Advanced analysis of SQL Server issues using native tools such as Extended Events, Perfmon, Query Store and 3rd party monitoring tools.
Makes decisions regarding SQL Server architecture, hardware, virtualization and storage, often in tandem with an infrastructure team.
Designs high availability and DR solutions and may provide guidance to other team members during implementation.
Plans SQL Server migrations.
Leads knowledge sharing in four or more areas.
May possess some competencies from DEV DBA levels up to level 2 or 3.
Regularly demonstrates good self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management skills (emotional intelligence)

You will notice that in previous lists of skills, I have listed skill 1 as “All competencies from the previous level.” However, I have not done that in this case, why? There are at least two reasons that I will detail.

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part 3

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In this series on measuring your DBA skills, we’ve been discussing what skills you should have at each phase of your career. So far we’ve covered the entry level skills and the phase 2 skills a Production DBA needs. In this part of the series you’re discovering what a Production DBA needs to know or be able to do at each stop along the career journey. If you want career development, you need to work on these skills in order to move forward.

How-Do-I-Measure-My-DBA-Skills-Part-2

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

You may be wondering, “How can I know what phase of my career I am in? How can I see what the next steps might look like in terms of skills I may need to move forward?”

As people change jobs, the gears of career progression are turning. Some new roles may be the same as the recent previous one. Some new roles will have larger spheres of influence and some may have better titles that require new skills. Like the gears in this picture, your job roles fit together and show a progression of sorts.

How Do I Measure My DBA Skills Part - 1

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Career development and progression is a hot topic for everyone. It starts really early in life like when some adult asks you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” You might have said “firefighter”, “ballerina”, “ice skater”, or “gymnast”. I’m certain you didn’t say “DBA”, but here you are anyway, at my blog, trying to figure out a career as a Database Administrator.

So, what does career progression look like for a Database Administrator? How do you move forward in your career with SQL Server? What skills should you have at year 2? Year 5? Year 10? This post will help you answer those questions.

3 Ways to Restore SQL Server Databases

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This is likely the last in a series of three posts about backups and restores. My aim with this series has been to give you an idea of the options available and a basic start on using those options. I’m not trying to go in-depth on the subject of backups and restores.

Today will be about getting you going on the concept of restoring databases in SQL Server. I’m using a local install of SQL Server 2017 on my desktop PC to demonstrate these techniques.

5 Ways to Make SQL Server Backups

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Last time we discussed 5 backup types for SQL Server. Now I want to introduce you to five ways to make backups in SQL Server. I can’t possibly explore all the options available with each of these six methods. There is a lot to cover for even a “simple” topic like backups.

Method 1: Using the SSMS GUI to Make a SQL Server Back up

For those readers who like the SSMS GUI, there is good news. SQL Server Management Studio offers a fairly straightforward method for backing up a database. Once you connect to the SQL Server instance containing the database you want to back up, left click on the “+” sign next to the Databases folder. Then right click the name of the database you want to backup, choose Tasks, then choose the Backup option in the fly out menu.

5 Types of SQL Server Backups

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of the foundational responsibilities of a DBA is making sure that backups are available. SQL Server has several foundational types of backups that can be made. Before I dive into that though, I want to ask a question that seems to have a fairly obvious answer.

Why take backups?

You want to be able to recover from data corruption or mistakes made when people make changes directly to the data - like when they write and run a script in SSMS, outside of an application that’s using a set of tested stored procedures.
You want to be able to refresh you non-prod environments so developers have data that looks like prod to develop against.
You want to have backups so you can test whether you can restore and how long it will take
You want backups as they are often an essential part of the migration process from one SQL Server to another - usually newer SQL Server, or to Azure.

SQL Server Full Backups

What does a full backup accomplish? A full backup, creates a backup of the entire database. It is all-inclusive, containing the entire database structure and all the data. When a full backup starts, the Log Sequence Number is recorded and when the full backup completes, the Log Sequence Number is recorded. This Log Sequence Number is the mechanism used by SQL Server to know what order INSERTS, UPDATES or DELETES occurred in. As such, having the beginning and ending Log Sequence number recorded as part of the full backup allows for a transactionally consistent backup because the full backup is aware of the changes that took place while the backup was being made. This allows for recovery of those transactions during the restore process. This full backup serves as the base backup, or starting point for all differential and log backups after it. Each time a new full backup is taken, a new base backup point is created.

How Do You Find Good SQL Server Training Resources?

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Teacher-Mentor-pexels-christina-morillo-1181398

What process can you use to find SQL Server training resources that will be valuable? After all, not everything on the internet can or should be trusted. If you want training on something in this constantly changing world of technology, how do you locate that training? How do you find information that is worth spending your time on? How much of it costs something? How much of it is free and is the free stuff any good?

Azure SQL Boot Camp Day 3 Takeaways

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hello reader! Here we are with the much anticipated post for day 3 of the recent Azure SQL Boot Camp. Here are the previous posts for days one and two .

If you want to get started with Azure SQL, the boot camp is a great way to do it. You’ll get Azure experts like Anna Hoffman and Bob Ward, who is also a long time SQL Server expert, teaching you how to leverage the cloud for SQL Server. On day three, Anna does a couple of demos on the subject of HA that demonstrate the capabilities of the Azure platform. Other days have demos of other concepts as well.

Azure SQL Boot Camp Day 2 Key Takeaways

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hello dear reader. This is the second of a four part series on a recent online event hosted by Microsoft on their Microsoft Developer page over on YouTube. From August 17th to August 20th Ann Hoffman and Bob Ward hosted a live boot camp for Azure SQL. This post provides you with key takeaways from day 2 of that event. The topic title for Day 2 was Azure security and performance. Below are my takeaways. If you’re looking for Day 1 takeaways, look here.

Azure SQL Boot Camp Day 1 Key Takeaways

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Recently Microsoft hosted an Azure SQL Boot Camp over on the Microsoft Developer page on YouTube. The boot camp consisted of four days of two hour sessions describing the different features of Azure SQL. The hosts were Anna Hoffman and Bob Ward.

This will be the first of a four part series offering you key takeaways from each of the sessions. These takeaway posts by their nature can’t possibly include everything from each session so keep that in mind as you read.

What Is the Value of Mentoring?

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

There aren’t many formal mentoring relationships these days. It seems to be rare when two people enter into an arrangement where one person agrees to give of their time energy and resources to answer questions and assist another person. Oh sure, you do it casually when you give an assignment to someone and say, “Let me know if you need any help.”

However, that’s different from a recent offer made to people in the SQL Server community. Paul Randal is once again offering his time to multiple people, inviting others to engage in discussion about non-technical subjects. To be sure, it is a unique and wonderful opportunity.

Lessons Learned Updating to SQL Server 2017 AlwaysOn Availability Groups

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In late 2019, a project that had been in progress for well over a year finally came to a conclusion. I had collaborated with a number of people to migrate a stand alone SQL Server 2008 and two stand alone SQL Server 2008 R2 instances. Each stand alone SQL Server was migrated to a three node Availability Group. Here are a few things learned along the way.

Automatic Seeding

First, consider using automatic-seeding if you are migrating to AlwaysOn Availability Groups. I hadn’t previously worked with anything newer than SQL Server 2014 so I was unaware of this feature. It is new as of SQL Server 2016. In this case, the old SQL Servers were migrating up to SQL Server 2017, so this option was available to us. For a couple of months leading up to the migration event there had been various tests involving the set up of the AGs. One of those tests involved restoring a full backup followed by one or more log backups over on the secondary nodes. As the migration date approached, we started experimenting with auto seeding.

Querying An AS400 Using SQL Server 2019 Data Virtualization

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

For those who have taken an interest in the latest SQL Server release, SQL Server 2019, you may have noticed a new feature called Data Virtualization. Perhaps you’ve seen a presentation about it, or maybe you’ve read about it in Bob Ward’s book entitled “SQL Server 2019 Revealed.”

I myself was curious about this feature and so I set out to see if I could use it to connect to an AS400 iSeries machine. Tom Willwerth, my friend at StraightPathSQL, and I worked on this process together. This post is primarily about walking you through the steps we recently took to get this configured.

SQL Server Install Guide Part 3

Sun, 15 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I’m in part 3 of a series on installing SQL Server. In the previous post I began discussing steps to take after the install is complete. Because there are quite a number of things to consider post-install, this part 3 will continue discussing the post-install configuration items.

Configure SQL Server Alerts

One of the things I always do after installing SQL Server is set up SQL Server Alerts. This is a free, easy way to find out about problems on the SQL instance, like read retry errors or other potential nasty issues. There are probably a number of places to find scripts useful for this task. The one I recommend is from Glenn Berry at SQLSkills.com. You can find his script at this link. One of my favorite things about Glenn’s script is that it has very well defined alert names that allow the DBA to easily know what server is involved when an alert is sent.

SQL Server Install Guide Part 2

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

In part 1 of this series, I discussed pre-installation steps. There are many guides available online for the actual installation process so I’m not going to give a step by step installation guide here. Rather, I’m going to focus on what to think about after the install is complete.

Recent versions of SQL Server will now go out and download additional content for you before the install actually happens so you’re not left on the base, RTM release of the product. However, one thing to consider post installation is still, are you on the latest patch? How do you know? Where can you go to compare the version number of the SQL Server you installed to what is currently available? Well, you can look back at this post to answer that question.

SQL Server Install Guide Part 1

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

In part 1 of a series on installing SQL Server, I’m going to discuss things to do prior to running the installation program for SQL Server. There are a number of install guides for SQL Server on the internet and plenty of recommendations around installation best practices and how-to’s. This will be what I’ve arrived at over the course of time.

Working with the Database Migration Assistant

This first step I’m going to introduce makes the assumption that this install is going to be for one or more databases that you’re planning to migrate from an existing instance. My first step is to run the Database Migration Assistant from Microsoft. This product is free and can be installed away from your SQL Servers. I run my install from my laptop. After opening the UI and starting an assessment, this tool will scan the source databases selected and determine if there are any breaking changes, behavior changes, or deprecated features between the source and target for your migration.

Correlating IO Wait with Queries

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Have you ever looked at sys.dm_os_virtual_file_stats and saw horrible latency for your database files? Generally speaking, you want to see latency below 20 ms on your database files. much above that and there are some problems somewhere that need some tuning.

But, how do you know what queries are causing your issue? What’s causing those IO waits?

How to Find Queries Associated with Pending IO Requests

I responded to a question on SQLServerCentral.com about performance that is related to these types of scenarios. The poster wanted to know if there was a way to correlate pending io requests with the queries that were experiencing the waits using the DMV sys.dm_io_pending_requests.

Consolidate Multiple Email Operators

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Suppose you’ve been working on cleaning up SQL Agent jobs and their email operators and find that you have more than one operator with the same email address. How would you tidy this up to ease administration?

Let’s do a little setup to demonstrate the scenario. The T-SQL below will create three operators with different names but the same email address. Then it updates two of my existing test jobs to use those email operators when the job fails. I am also logging failures to the Windows Event Log.

Finding Failed Jobs

Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

How would you go about finding jobs that have failed and why would you want to look for these? You might want to do this to ensure that you are being notified appropriately of job failures. For instance, after reviewing failed jobs, you may realize that there are job failures that no one knew about. Maybe this is occurring because the jobs are not set to send email. If that’s the case see my post here so you can fix that.

Fixing Jobs With No Email Notification

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In the last post we found jobs that had no email notification. Once you find them, how do you fix this problem?

I’m going to assume that database mail is already enabled and configured on the SQL Server instance. 1. Create an operator, assuming one does not exist.

This can be done either through T-SQL or through the GUI. In the GUI, right click the Operator folder under SQL Server Agent and chooser “New Operator.” Then fill in the details of operator “Name “and “Email name.” See below for an example.

Finding Jobs With No Email Notifications

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

When you take over a new SQL Server instance one of the things you might consider doing early on is finding SQL Agent jobs that have no email notification set up. These will be jobs that could fail and they will never alert anyone. I am of the opinion that if a job is worth creating, then it’s worth telling someone when it doesn’t do what it is supposed to do.

Steps to Catch Up Log Shipping Secondary

Tue, 02 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

If you are using Log Shipping, there have probably been times that you have discovered that the Log Shipping Secondary is not up to date. Perhaps you found out by right clicking on your SQL Server instance and running the performance dashboard report for Log Shipping Status. If you are not familiar with this report check here.

Perhaps there is a Reporting team that uses that secondary and they met you at your desk upon arrival, informing you that the database is not online so they can’t work yet. So what do you do when you realize that the secondary is so far behind that it is probably not going to catch up on its own? This process assumes that you have a Log Shipping config set up to run a Log Shipping Restore job just prior to the beginning of the business day and that job leaves the database in Standby mode so it can be read from. At the end of the business day the log shipping restore job has one or more schedules set to kick off restores for the transaction logs during the business day.

Three Reasons to Use a Custom Database Role

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Ever had a situation where a small in-house application written for a small group of employees needed some permissions in the database? How do you handle that? I want to walk through the scenario and provide three reasons that using a Database Role might be the answer you are looking for.

Let’s first cover, at a high level, the different levels of permissions in SQL Server and the associated commands. In SQL Server there are Server level permissions for the SQL instance and there are database level permissions. Within the database level there are also specific permissions for objects like tables, views and store procedures. There are also database permissions that can be grouped together in a database role. In fact, there are some built-in database roles for SQL Server as shown below. If you aren’t familiar with these, you can find out about them here.

Retiring sp_who and sp_who2

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Sp_who and sp_who2 have been some very popular T-SQL commands. What if I told you that you could get more and better information from DMVs that have been around since SQL Server 2005?

With the advent of SQL Server 2005 came along new objects called Dynamic Management Views, also known as DMVs. One of the great places where improvements were made by adding the DMVs is when investigating what is happening on a SQL Server at the moment production troubleshooting is required. When things go south and the DBA is contacted, the new DMV’s are invaluable. Despite this, there are still some folks out there using sp_who and sp_who2. With this post I want to demonstrate why you should stop using sp_who and sp_who2. Retire these commands and move on to something better.

Three Places to Get Information On New Updates for SQL Server

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

There are many consistently hot topics around SQL Server. One such topic is, “How does a DBA obtain the latest information on updates?” In this post, I will discuss three places that I frequent for information on SQL Server updates.

The first link I want to discuss is http://sqlserverbuilds.blogspot.com/. This site gives you a very comprehensive page of data. Initially there will be a summary grid that lists a SQL Server release down the left side and across the top will be release names like RTM, SP1, SP2, etc. Inside the grid will be the corresponding release number for a particular release and that release number will be a link to the corresponding download.

Moving Database Files to Another Drive

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

You may occasionally have the need to relocate database files. What are some reasons that may prompt the need for this type of change? First, someone might have discovered that the database files are on the same drive as the operating system. For a discussion of why you don’t want to do this see this post. Second, your database might simply be outgrowing its current drive. Third, perhaps someone installed the transaction log file on the same drive as the mdf file.

Setting Min and Max Server Memory Setting

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Configuring the min and max server memory settings for SQL Server has a number of things to consider prior to making changes. Before we jump into those considerations, let’s learn what the min and max server memory options do.

What does the min server memory option do?

The min server memory option specifies the minimum amount of memory utilized by the SQL Server buffer pool. It may seem that this should mean that when SQL Server starts it will automatically grab the memory equal to the min server memory value. However, this is not what happens. Instead, SQL Server acquires system memory as needed to process a workload. Consequently, if the SQL Server workload remains low, it is possible that the min server memory value is never reached. However, once it is reached SQL Server will not release an amount of memory that would take it below that minimum setting.

Three Reasons to Use Windows Groups to Manage SQL Server

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Ever come across a SQL Server that had 5, 10, or more individual logins for users in it? I have a few times and it made me wonder if whoever had done such a thing realized how much harder they were making the administration of the server by doing this. I suppose some folks start out with one or two people that they give special permissions or access directly to the SQL instance and underlying databases. Their logic probably goes something like, “It’s just Tommy and Suzie. Those are the only people who will need access for a long time.”

3 Additional Tips for Using SQL Server Management Studio

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

In an earlier post I listed three tips for using the SQL Server Management Studio user interface. I want to offer three additional tips for SSMS. I think you will find that these ideas will bring additional efficiency and functionality to your use of the interface.

The first tip is related to getting more viewing space after running a query. Query results obviously take up the bottom portion of the SSMS editor window. I have often found myself then clicking in the query editor window and scrolling to view various parts of my query, all the while the results portion of the screen is using a good portion of the window. Some time back an associate told me how to easily address that annoying issue. Simply click CTRL and R to collapse the query results so that the full page is again used for viewing the query text.

You Really Should Stay Current on Cumulative Updates

Mon, 23 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I have encountered a Log Shipping error that I want to detail as an encouragement for staying current on SQL Server cumulative updates. First, a little background. The environment is SQL Server 2014 Standard edition with a physical machine as the primary and two secondaries, both virtual machines backed by a flash storage system. SQL Server is on service pack 1, cumulative update 1. Log shipping had been configured in this environment for many months, but SQL Server 2008R2 was updated to SQL Server 2014 some months prior. The Log Shipping Restore job leaves the database in the Standby Mode so it can be queried for reporting purposes.

3 Reasons Not to Install Databases On the C Drive

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

We’re probably all familiar with the fact that SQL Server by default will install not only the program binaries but all your databases on the C drive as well. Accidental DBA’s, i.e. System Administrators and Developers who inherited the maintenance of a database, may not be aware of how bad it can be if someone simply clicked the “Next” button all the way through the SQL Server install. There are surely many reasons not to accept this default during the install, but I will start with three.

3 Tips for Using SQL Server Management Studio

Sat, 14 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

You’ve been using SQL Server Management Studio for a long while now, but you mostly only using the New Query window to write T-SQL and the Object Explorer to do management tasks for an instance. You know it can do more, but you are a busy data professional. You don’t have a lot of time to poke around in the options and you’re not sure where to look or what else it can do to make your life easier. In this post I will cover three SQL Server Management Studio options that will save you time and make you more efficient.

About Lee Markum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I make SQL Server more responsive, more highly available, and easier to manage.

I entered I.T. in February 2008 and started working with SQL Server in late 2009 as a report writer using SSRS. I was fascinated by the SQL Server engine underneath and quickly progressed to database administration. I found that I definitely liked that side of SQL Server a lot. I earned an MCTS on SQL Server 2008 and much later I earned the Azure Fundamentals and Azure Data Fundamentals certifications. I love handling performance tuning, making SQL Server more highly available, and designing solutions from the ground up.

Resources

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

General Resources:

The Resources repository on Github is a training resources type of repository. The repo currently includes links and comments on resources for training and for AlwaysOn Availability Groups. I will be adding information about a SQL Server installation and configuration checklist very soon.

Job and Career Development:

The Job and Career Development repository is meant for resources for interviews, resumes, and the like. Check it out for help with topics like a list of questions you can ask employers when you’re interviewing.

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