Dear SQL DBA

Latest Episodes:

Developer Seeks DBA Career Aug 18, 2016

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A C# developer wants to be a DBA, but is having a hard time landing a job. Should they take a pay cut and go for a Junior level job? Or could there be another path?

Teach Yourself SQL Server Performance Tuning Aug 11, 2016

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You'd love to have a job tuning SQL Servers, but you don't have an environment to practice in. Here's how to teach yourself performance tuning and prepare yourself to land and succeed in job interviews.

Altering an INT Column to a BIGINT Aug 04, 2016

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You need to change an INT column to a BIGINT in a large table. Learn why this schema change can make your transaction log explode, and how to avoid it.

Should I Automate Windows Updates for SQL Server? Jul 28, 2016

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Your boss wants you to automate patching for your SQL Servers. Is that a good idea? How far should you take it? Find out a DBAs perspective.

Why Upgrades can Cause Performance Regression Jul 21, 2016

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Learn what can cause performance regressions after migrating to a new SQL Server version, and how to troubleshoot it.

Max Degree of Confusion Jul 14, 2016

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Learn how to configure the Max Degree of Parallelism and Cost Threshold for Parallelism settings in SQL Server - and about how SQL Server 2014 SP2 and SQL Server 2016 change the way that SQL Server automatically configures some SQL Servers with lots of cores.

How to Level Up Your DBA Career Jul 07, 2016

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You're a Junior or mid-level Database Administrator with no obvious career path. How do you grow the right skills to level up your DBA career?

Index Usage Stats Insanity Jun 30, 2016

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SQL Server's "index usage stats" dynamic management view is incredibly useful-- but does it tell you what you THINK it tells you? Kendra explains the quirks of how sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats works, as well as why she thinks the information is so valuable.

Fail Over, Fail Again, Fail Better - Preparing for Disaster Recovery Jun 23, 2016

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You're setting up SQL Server log shipping for disaster recovery. What else do you need to do to best prepare for a failure?

Outside the Big SAN Box Jun 16, 2016

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You believe that your expensive SAN is slowing down the SQL Server. How can you make your case without making enemies?