Featured Article(s)
Troubleshooting SQL Server 2005 System Stored Procedures (Part 1)
In this article, Alexander Chigrik explains some problems that you can have when you use SQL Server 2005 system stored procedures. He also tells how to resolve these problems.
Things to Watch for in a Tight IT Budget World
I’ve been seeing some interesting trends in talking with people working with SQL Server. One thing that just sort of hit me between the eyes today is that with DB staff being expected to do more and more with the systems, a few critical tasks are being ignored or put off because they don’t scream for attention.
Things that I’ve been seeing fall into this category include defragmentation, ongoing performance monitoring (instead just responding to specific issues as they arise), security and overall auditing, checks and balances.
I guess I attribute this to having less time to do the proactive stuff – since that’s really where these fall. The problem I see with this though is that it’s the proactive stuff that leads to better running, more secure systems overall. I worry that we’ll end up paying a bigger price in the near-future as systems fall into critical states and then DO scream for attention. This has been pointed out a few times now by going in to work on a system, seeing really clear issues that could have been resolved or even prevented with the basics, but realizing that they (the basics) couldn’t be completed for one reason or another. Typically the reasons boil down to a priority queue that has been wildly overloaded.
So, what can you do?
First, automate. Use your own scripts and tools, use third-party tools, but for goodness sake, use something. Figure out the repetitive key tasks and figure out how you can automate them, or the monitoring of them, and be able to keep them at least managed.
Second, create systems for the inevitable manual tasks. Use checklists, procedures, etc. You can set these up to streamline the monitoring of your system’s jobs, for example. List the jobs, add check boxes for successful run confirmation, etc. It’s a small thing, but by systemizing you can do the work quickly but still know you got it done.
What other ideas and approaches do you have – it’s the old "doing more with less" thing – drop me a note, let me know…
Announcement: Chris Shaw vWorkshop – Deep-Dive SQL Server
Trust me, you’ll want to see how in-depth this workshop goes. This is unlike any other teaching event online you’ve seen. Our goal is to provide you with extremely comprehensive learning in these vWorkshops! Many thanks for the amazing response already on this workshop!
We’re proud to announce that Chris Shaw will be doing an incredibly intense and in-depth workshop, called "SQL Server 911" and will be presenting it virtually on June 5, 2009 starting at 9:00a Pacific. The workshop outline alone is more than 6 pages (you can get it at the workshop site to take a look at all he’ll be covering). This workshop includes instructor (Chris) Q&A, a completion certificate after completing the closing quiz, a guidebook and a lot more. The workshop is more than 4 hours long (yes, there are breaks!). It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen online before. You get to do this from the comfort of your office and get to learn what you really want and need to know about backup, restore/recovery, tips, tricks, recovering data elements instead of full databases, etc. SPECIFIC examples and demonstrations, how-to information… there is a LOT here.
I did a quick intro video on what it’s all about – and you can grab the outline, see for yourself exactly what’s up. It’s a great vWorkshop –
https://www.vconferenceonline.com/shows/workshops/sqlserver911.asp
We hope to see you there!
Featured White Paper(s)
SQL Server Database Backup and Restore Planning
Whether a business is small, medium or large business, it must have a well-written plan for backing up the servers. Planning … (read more)