When the buffer pool isn’t just in memory
Last time we looked at the four major components of a computer system, and then looked at the SQL Server buffer pool as a way to leverage the best performance from computing hardware. Temperature Before…
Speaking at SQLBits in March 2019
I have been selected to speak for a second time at SQLBits, which is being hosted in Manchester UK this year from 27 February to 2 March 2019. My session is called An overview of…
How does the buffer pool work?
Today we’ll begin taking a look at the buffer pool in SQL Server and how it’s normally used. Before we dive too deeply into the buffer pool, we need to remind ourselves of a few…
Database modelling in a post-SSMS world: dbForge Studio
A few months ago, Microsoft announced that SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) will no longer include the visual Database Diagrams feature from v18.0 onward. [Edit: Microsoft reversed this decision with SSMS 18.1, and the designer…
Back to the future
It’s January 2019 as I write this. I realized that I started on my journey with SQL Server in 1998, and I wanted to look at what’s changed through the lens of my career path.…
AzCopy finally gets a sync option, and all the world rejoices
I consider Blob Storage to be the gateway drug to Azure, because it’s a really easy way to get going with offsite backups. One of the ways I’ve leveraged Blob Storage is with SQL Server…
Giving thanks in 2018
It’s the last post of 2018, and in years past I’ve recapped the year that has just been. This is a little different however. I want to talk a bit about community, and two unexpected…
Infrastructure matters, even in the Cloud
I am still amused by terminology in the Information Technology field. Words like “Kubernetes,” “containers,” and the BASIC keywords PEEK and POKE, all bring a smile to my lips every time I read or say…
Some databases may show a NULL collation in the sys.databases DMV
While working on my Swart’s Ten Percent Rule post last week, I needed to test the Windows version of the script on my SQL Server 2016 instance. Just before removing all the databases, I noticed…
Flagrantly ignoring the 10% rule
My friend Michael J. Swart has a rule of thumb he calls Swart’s Ten Percent Rule. If you’re using over 10% of what SQL Server restricts you to, you’re doing it wrong. After a recent…
Price increase for Azure in Canadian dollars
On 1 December 2018, Microsoft is increasing Azure subscription prices in Canadian dollars by 5%. The following is taken directly from the email I received on 1 November 2018. Starting December 1, 2018, prices for…
Dates and Times in SQL Server: DATEDIFF() and DATEDIFF_BIG()
Last time we looked at adding or subtracting date parts using the DATEADD() T-SQL system function. This week we see how to calculate the difference between two date-time values using DATEDIFF() and DATEDIFF_BIG(). The syntax…
Dates and Times in SQL Server: DATEADD()
We are now in the home stretch of the long-running series about dates and times in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. This week we look at one of my favourite T-SQL functions when it…
PASS Summit Speaker Idol 2018
This scheduled post is coming to you from Seattle, where the PASS Summit 2018 has just kicked off. Because it is a scheduled post, I have no idea what announcements from the convention will be…
String or binary data would be truncated: get the full picture in SQL Server 2017
SQL Server 2019 Preview (CTP 2.0) introduced a long-awaited improvement to an error message that’s been around in SQL Server for many years, but was unhelpful: Msg 8152, Level 16, State 6, Procedure ProcedureName, Line…