sql server dba

I’ve been working with SQL Server since what seems like forever ++1. The truth is I haven’t been a production DBA in more than 6 years (I work in marketing now,…

In my last couple of posts, I’ve tried to paint a picture of the past and present of database management and monitoring. We’ve seen that good database performance has everything…

CPUs are running faster now than ever before, solid-state drives are replacing spinning disks, and database servers have terabytes of RAM. Because these resources are plentiful and increasingly affordable, it…

In my seven years as a production DBA, I can count on one hand the number of times I have need to restore the master database as a result of…

In 2013, Microsoft made it available for customers to utilize virtual machines running in Windows Azure. This allowed customers to run an on-premises version of SQL Server, but have the…

When you create a database in SQL Server and do not specify a file location for your data and log files, SQL Server will rely on the default locations as…

The SQL Server plan cache stores details on statements that are executed over time. Each time a statement executes, SQL Server will look inside the plan cache first to see…

I wrote a couple of posts previously on SQL Server consolidation. The first post tried to give insight on some of the problems and associated motivating factors that most companies have…

Consider for a moment that you have a deck attached to your house. It is one story above ground level and is growing weaker with each passing year. The former…

I am seeing more than a handful of articles these days regarding SQL Server virtualization and/or consolidation. Lots of companies are coming forward to provide you tools that will take…