How To Choose a SQL Server Expert
By Lee Markum, guest blogger for SQL Tailor Consulting How To Choose a SQL Server Expert Much of the time, SQL Server just works. It’s easy to install and use as a database for applications. That’s a wonderful thing, until customer growth causes performance to start sporadically hitting a wall, or until there’s a series […]
T-SQL Tuesday #188: Growing the younger data community and speakers
T-SQL Tuesday #188: Growing the younger data community and speakers This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is being hosted by John Sterrett and asks a great question: What can we do to grow the younger data community and speakers? I think the answer lies in a personal touch. The SQL Server Community This question is very dear […]
T- SQL Tuesday #187 Round Up: Troubleshooting Weird Problems
T- SQL Tuesday #187 Round Up: Troubleshooting Weird Problems I was excited to host my first T-SQL Tuesday to find out how you solve problems. It’s a big topic, and I imagine it’s difficult to fully put to paper how your brain works, but I am thankful for the folks who did. Here’s my T-SQL Tuesday […]
T- SQL Tuesday #187 Invitation: Troubleshooting Weird Problems
T- SQL Tuesday #187 Invitation: Troubleshooting Weird Problems For T-SQL Tuesday this month, someone made the mistake of allowing me to host! I’m curious about how you solve problems. If we’ve never met, I’m an independent SQL Server consultant in the Detroit, Mich. area. I ran the PASS user group for this area until about […]
SQL Server Transactional Replication – From Expletives to Excellence
SQL Server Transactional Replication Part 2, Setup and Initialization Complications This is part 2 in a series on SQL Server transactional replication. Read Part 1, Introduction and Basics if necessary. You’ve examined all the options and have decided that Microsoft SQL Server transactional replication is the solution to your problem. Congratulations! Also, my condolences. While […]
SQL Server Transactional Replication — From Expletives to Excellence
SQL Server Transactional Replication: Part 1, Introduction and Basics “I want to look at my data, and I want to look at it IN REAL TIME!” No matter how irrational or unreasonable this request is, it’s a very common one in today’s tech world. It often leads to a lot of pain as business users […]
5 Things Your Database Administrator Wishes You Knew
5 Things Your Database Administrator Wishes You Knew In the business of database management, or any IT role, there is a lot that customers just don’t know. There are also many expectations they have that are unrealistic. If you’re working with a DBA, you can short-circuit a lot of problems and get to the solution […]
Cursors ARE the Devil
Last month I talked about a query method that I believe is pilloried more than it should be. This month I’ll talk about a real problem I see in code frequently. If you recall last month’s blog, you may remember I talked about a company that was forced to send a public apology after a […]
NOLOCK is Not the Devil
NOLOCK is not the devil. Wow, that felt weird to say. The subject of NOLOCK hints (also known as the Read Uncommitted isolation level in SQL Server) is one that can spark very heated arguments. The arguments typically revolve around concurrency — how many processes can simultaneously access your data at once — and data reliability […]
Top 6 Questions for Effective SQL Database Troubleshooting
Database administrators don’t often get to be heroes, but if there is a time when they’re hailed as such, it’s when they can solve a problem like a slow-running query or error message for a user. It’s not that DBAs pull out their magic wands or even that they know everything about how the database […]