How does one consistently find the correct path to the Extended Event Log file (XEL file)? This article shows a thorough method to capture that information for all sessions on the server.
Event Log File Paths
Tag: SQL Administration
Database Offline – Redux
A database can be offline at the time that you take over responsibility of the database. You will be asked when it was taken offline. This script will help you get a reasonable deduction for that offline event in the absence of better data.
Database Recovery Monitoring with XE
Database recovery (crash recovery) is a nerve wrenching situation under the wrong conditions. It can be as bad as a root canal and just as necessary to endure that pain at times. When the business is waiting on you waiting on the server to finish crash recovery, you feel nervous at best. If you can be of some use and provide some information back to the business, that anxiety dissipates and the business becomes more calm as well. While the previous script can help you get that information easily enough, I want to introduce the easiest method to capture that information currently available.
Database In Recovery Redux
One of the more gut-wrenching experiences of a DBA is to have a database get stuck in recovery. This typically happens when the server was rebooted unexpectedly and typically coincides with a rather large transaction.
Indexed Views – Performance Panacea or Plight
An indexed view is a view where the result set from the query (the view definition) becomes materialized in lieu of the virtual table result set of a standard (non-indexed) view. Many times we see that an indexed view would be created to help improve performance. Far too often, an indexed view is created without consideration for the costs of the indexed view.
Connect To SQL Server – Back to Basics
The first critical task any data professional should ever learn how to do is how to connect to SQL Server. Without a connection to SQL Server, there is barely anything one could do to be productive in the data professional world (for SQL Server).
An Experiment with Deadlocks
There seems to be a myth out there that when deadlocks come a-knocking, then just throw this little directive (ROWLOCK) at it and all will be well. This is total fiction and we will explore that in this article.
The Curiously Large CASE Statement
A powerful little expression in SQL Server is the CASE statement. The CASE statement has the ability to “transform” data per business rules to help better understand the data in a given query. In the simplest form, the CASE statement is a statement that evaluates a list of conditions (in order) and returns the first matching result expressions.
Disk Space and SQL Server
One of the frequently required job functions of the database administrator is to track disk space consumption. Whether this requirement comes from management or from a learning opportunity after a production outage, the need exists.
Interview Trick Questions
Anybody that has interviewed for a job has most likely run into the trick question. Some interviewers like to throw out multiple trick questions all in an effort to trip up the candidate and get the candidate to doubt him/her self.