Featured Article(s)
Undocumented SQL Server 2008 extended stored procedures to work with files and directories
In this article, Alexander Chigrik describes some useful undocumented SQL Server 2008 extended stored procedures to work with files and directories.
Work Tamer – One Day IT Pro Events, No Fluff
Three lucky Canadian cities (Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal) will be the sites for these one-day intense events. These are really unique information sessions for IT professionals, covering all sorts of great information from telecommuting to technical topics and much more. Check out the sessions at the site – 18 sessions, 6 time slots! Get more information here at the site, including registration links.
Webcast Today
Protect & Defend Your Data
With most SharePoint implementations storing critical business data, it is crucial that this data be protected and quickly restorable in the event of a disaster. Learn how utilizing Data Protection Manager 2007 as your backup/restore/disaster recovery solution provides a full-fidelity solution with granular control. We will walk you through the initial configuration of DPM as well as setting up a recovery farm. Presented by: Christopher Regan
> Register Now
> Live date: 12/2/2009 at 12:00 Pacific
Baselines, Your EKG for SQL Server
If you haven’t yet, it’s time to start taking baselines for your SQL Servers.
If you’re using a third-party tool, great. If not, no problem. You need to know, however, what "normal" is and how you can dig into that if things start acting "abnormal." Without knowing your key baseline stats, you will have a much more difficult time digging into issues. Start by trying to get key indicators of your server health at a high level. Things like CPU, Memory utilization, Disk utilization will give you a good look at a very high level. From there, get key SQL Server counters and log what a typical day or week looks like for them.
What you’re really looking for here is what amounts to being a "cross-eyed" look at what your systems have going on under typical load. You get this information with Performance Monitor, by capturing the counters you’re interested in over a period of typical use.
Later, when something not so good is going on on your systems, you’ll be able to pull the same counters and information and compare it to your baselines. You’ll be able to gain a good deal of insight into where you need to look next to determine the root cause of an issue that might be showing itself.
You also need to update your baselines on a regular basis, perhaps a couple times per year. This lets you see trending information and will let you monitor growth and utilization stats. These types of things will help you plan for adding disk, memory or even scale up/out requirements.
Upcoming Learning Events
Two great opportunities to learn –
– SQL Server Security Virtual Workshop [More Info/Register]
December 10 – 9a – Be sure to register to save a spot
– DBASchool Class – 3 days – [More Info/Register]
Max of 15 people, 10 slots remain, January class
Featured White Paper(s)
Streamline Backup and Recovery with LiteSpeed® for SQL Server and LiteSpeed® Engine for Oracle
Database backup and recovery is becoming more difficult and more complicated. Two factors are putting a “double whammy” on to… (read more)