Often I need to examine an execution plan from a production server. Just as often, I can’t re-run the stored procedure in that environment. There are several techniques for simulating the environment on a test server such as exporting statistics…
This past Saturday, September 6th, I had the privilege of attending SQL Saturday #320, in Raleigh, NC. It was a great day. The highlight of the event was the #sqlfamily. I had several rewarding conversations with members of our community and the…
In just a couple of hours I will be driving down to Raleigh for tomorrow’s SQLSaturday #320. It looks like a great line up with far too many great sessions scheduled to attend them all. Just a few minutes ago…
Last week I promised a post on enabling PowerShell Remoting when we discussed automating service account password updates. So, let’s break down the two methods. First we have the manual method. For this, all you need to do is remote…
I am a believer that regular rotation of passwords is an important security measure. I worked at an organization that, when they were small, would use the SQL Server database engine service account to run SQL Agent jobs and other…
The ability to script out the definitions of objects is valuable to any DBA. Most of us are intimately familiar with SQL Server Management Studio’s capabilities in this regard. Simply right-click on your object and navigate to the “Script object…
Over the years, I’ve found my professional maturity to be a growing entity. One piece of evidence of this is how I react to being the most knowledgeable person in the room. Now, understand I’m not being arrogant, I mean, “the room,” literally. I…
Today I had an odd experience with installing Windows Server 2012 R2. I downloaded the ISO from the MSDN subscriber’s downloads. Then I got the product key from the same line item on the download page, this makes me assume…
My life in the work force began like many others, as a waiter at a Greek restaurant in my home town, Newtown, CT. After graduating from high school I ran off to join the Navy so that I could afford…
Today I had a co-worker come to my desk wondering why his service was getting a permissions error when selecting from a table. His confusion was rooted in the fact that his service has been using this stored procedure for…