Partitioning Relational Data – (Part – 2) By Basit A. Farooq This is the second part of the three part article series on partitioning relational data. In the first part of this three-part article series on partitioning relation data, I started the article by giving an introduction to partition relational data along with the reasons why you might want to...
SQL Server
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 data types
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 data types Use tinyint data type, if you need to store integer data from 0 through 255. The columns with tinyint data type use only one byte to store their values, in comparison with two bytes, four bytes and eight bytes used to store smallint, int and bigint values accordingly. For example, if you...
Learning SQL Server Analysis Services: Part 1- Introduction
Learning SQL Server Analysis Services: Part 1- Introduction I recently decided to write about SQL Server Analysis Services and it didn’t take me long to realize that it will be a lot better to write a series of articles rather than making a mess of it in an all-in-one article. So, I am going to begin the series with an...
Addressing Security Issues In Windows Server 2008 R2
In this article we will discuss the security issues in Windows Server 2008 R2 OS and the mitigation strategies. Windows Server 2008 RC was released for manufacturing on February 4, 2008 and the official release came on February 27, 2008. Windows Server 2008 RC 2 was released on July 22nd, 2008. After the success of Windows Server 2003, Windows Server...
Troubleshooting problems with SQL Server 2012 Triggers
Troubleshooting problems with SQL Server 2012 Triggers If you have problems with SQL Server 2012 triggers, review this troubleshooting checklist to find potential solutions. 1. Check that you use the latest SQL Server service pack. Because many SQL Server 2012 triggers bugs were fixed in SQL Server service packs, you should install the latest SQL Server service pack. At the...
Partitioning Relational Data – (Part 1)
Partitioning Relational Data – (Part – 1) By Basit A. Farooq Introduction A common requirement for dealing with large datasets is the ability to split the data into smaller blocks to help improve performance. Performance degradation is evident once the tables reach larger sizes, and therefore, it is sometimes appropriate to break large tables using a process called partitioning or...
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 constraints
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 constraints Try to create a single column constraint. The more columns the constraint will have, the slowly it will work and the more stored space it will require. Use cascading referential integrity constraints instead of triggers whenever possible. For example, if you need to make cascading deletes or updates, specify the ON DELETE or...
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 cursors
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 cursors Reduce the number of rows to process in the cursor. To reduce the cursor result set use the WHERE clause in the cursor’s select statement. Use FAST_FORWARD cursors, whenever possible. The FAST_FORWARD cursors produce the least amount of overhead on SQL Server 2012, because there are read-only cursors and can only be scrolled...
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 bulk copy
Tips for using SQL Server 2012 bulk copy Use the -K option of the bcp utility. This option was first introduced in SQL Server 2012. If you specify "ReadOnly" for the -K option the read-only access to a secondary replica in an AlwaysOn availability group will be used. Consider using minimally logged bulk copy whenever possible. The minimally logged bulk...
System Health Session Dashboard — sp_server_diagnostics and more
System Health Session Dashboard – sp_server_diagnostics and more In my last article, I showed how to fetch the sp_server_diagnostics output from the System Health Session and utilize that information to create dashboard reports. A screenshot below shows the information component state summary matrix from a SQL Server instance. In this post, we will look at how to get information from...