no more blogging at this site as I begin learning the ropes as a new postgresql dba. cheers!

Wednesday Weekly #sqlserver Links 

Grab a plate and load it up.

Current Feed Content

• Tagged as [ADMIN]

  • SQL Server Database SUSPECT state – SQL Server DBA
    According to BOL , a database in SUSPECT state is : “At least the primary filegroup is suspect and may be damaged. The database cannot be recovered during startup of…
    
  • How to Create Secure SQL Server Service Accounts
    I’m looking to install SQL Server and I know it will require a service account. In this tip we cover what should be done to configure the SQL Server service accounts…
    
  • Getting Started with Utility Control Point in SQL Server 2008 R2 — DatabaseJournal.com
    Utility Control Point can help SQL Server DBAs in multi-server administration.
    

• Tagged as [CAREER]

  • A Good Time to Be a SQL Server Professional – Pearl Knows – SQLServerCentral.com
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [COMMUNITY]

  • Wise man or Wise guy? You decide: Me an MVP? It Really Happened
    Webpage without description
    
  • Todd McDermid’s Blog: A “New Guy” Joins Our Team
    Webpage without description
    
  • Completed 5 Years at MS | Vinod Kumar (Blog home)
    Webpage without description
    
  • What do you want to see from your PASS board? Me?
    Many of you know recently the PASS board announced that elections will be coming up for three seats
    
  • Joe Sack’s Blog | New Adventures with SQLskills
    Webpage without description
    
  • Congratulations New and Re-Awarded MVP Awardees! – The Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are exceptional technical community leaders from around the world who are awarded for voluntarily sharing their high…
    

• Tagged as [DENALI]

  • SQL Server Native Client Support for High Availability, Disaster Recover
    Webpage without description
    
  • Bob Beauchemin’s Blog | LOTS of New Goodies in SQL Server Denali Query Plans
    Webpage without description
    
  • Bob Beauchemin’s Blog | Additional Warnings in SQL Server Denali Query Plans
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [DISCUSS]

  • Just Ship it.
    Good enough is almost always better than nothing at all. Many of you will smile and nod sagely when you read that. Sure, that seems pretty obvious. But many people…
    
  • October Question: What one thing do you feel has the greatest impact on SQL Server’s performance? | SQL Aloha
    Brad M. McGehee, Director of DBA Education, Red Gate Software
    
  • Forums
    Forums
    

• Tagged as [EDUCATION]

  • Free SQL Server Community October 2011 Training « Dan English’s BI Blog
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL In The City: LA | Home Of The Scary DBA
    Webpage without description
    
  • Registration – SQL Server PowerShell Extensions
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [GEEK]

  • Keyboard Shoes – QWERTY – Pics | Geekosystem
    If only you could write the next great American novel while taking a walk in the park. Well, now, you still can’t, but you can take a walk in the park in these kick-ass…
    
  • Harald Haas: Wireless data from every light bulb – YouTube
    Webpage without description
    
  • The Stack Exchange Architecture – 2011 Edition, Episode 1 – Server Fault Blog
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [HUMOR]

  • Make It Sexy – Celebrity Pictures, Lol Celebs and Funny Actor and Actress Photos – ROFLrazzi
    funny celebrity pictures – Apparently only one ship came equipped with a gym.
    
  • If Super Mario Bros. Had Been Designed in 2011 | ChurchMag
    Exploring the Intersection of Church and Technology
    

• Tagged as [MSFT]

  • SQL Server Technical Paper
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [MULTIMEDIA]

  • SQLBits 9 Slidedeck for READPAST & Furious |
    Webpage without description
    
  • 24 HOP recordings | Dukagjin Maloku – Dugi’SQL
    Webpage without description
    
  • Klaus Aschenbrenner – Slides & Samples for my SolidQ Summit Sessions
    Webpage without description
    
  • Virtual TechDays Slides on AlwaysOn and Good Practices « Help: SQL Server
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [RESPECT]

  • A Performance Troubleshooting Methodology for SQL Server
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [RTM]

  • Deprecated Database Engine Features in SQL Server 2008 R2
    Webpage without description
    
  • Logical and Physical Operators Reference
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SCRIPT]

  • Audit VLFs on your SQL Server | youdidwhatwithtsql.com
    I’ve been reading a bit about VLFs (Virtual Log Files) this week. I’ve found quite a few interesting links, especially this one, informing us that there’s such
    
  • Moving TempDB can be easy but tricky « sqlconcept.com
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SITE]

  • SQL Server Days 2011 | November 14-15, 2011
    The largest SQL Server event in the Benelux
    
  • SQL Server events
    All SQL Server events around the globe
    

• Tagged as [SQLPASS]

  • Attend the PASS Summit from Home, 2011 edition | SQL Awesomesauce
    Hidy-ho there, neighbors! This is an update of last year’s Attend the PASS Summit from Home blog. I’ll be updating this over the next few days, so keep your
    
  • PASS Summit 2011 – Birds of a Feather! | Straight Path Solutions, a SQL Server Consultancy
    Howdy! The 2011 SQL PASS Summit is fast approaching. I’m happy to have been able to volunteer to help do some coordination of the Birds of a Feather lunch again
    
  • PASS 2011 Photowalk | Sql Server Insane Asylum
    Webpage without description
    
  • Don’t pass by PASS Summit 2011! – SQL Server Team Blog – Site Home – TechNet Blogs
    Insider news about SQL Server and Microsoft’s Informaton Platform
    
  • SQL Karaoke 2011 powered by NEC and Genesis Hosting Solutions – SQL Server with Mr. Denny
    So this is the all important SQL Karaoke wrist band post. In order to get your SQL Karaoke wrist band you must head over the NEC booth on Wednesday during the…
    

• Tagged as [WARNING]

  • Yet another cause of Kerberos authentication failure connecting to SQL Server – Data, Design, and SQL Server – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    SQL Server and database design
    
  • After Applying SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Error 9013 is logged (The tail of the log for database %ls is being rewritten to match the new sector size of %d bytes …) – CSS SQL Server Engineers – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    

Joining

If you have experience with joining the military then thank you sir or ma’am but as a SQL Server DBA you are sure to have experience with joining tables using Transact-SQL. My first blog post was on this exact same subject and this post will be a condensed version of it, SQL Server Joins using Playing Cards There are three primary JOIN operators the Query Optimizer will pick from: Nested Loops, Merge Join and Hash Match.

Imagine you were asked to find all the Aces in a deck of cards. How would you accomplish that? You would probably flip them all over and scan across them looking for the Aces. You would likely do the same if you were told that this would repeat for three, four or five different ranks. What if you were told it would be for eleven, twelve or even all thirteen different ranks?

If you were going to match many different ranks then you would probably decide scanning would be too repetitive. Instead you might break the deck into a pile for each rank. The time it took to reorganize the cards will be made-up by not having to look at every single card when another rank is asked for. What if you were told to match all fifty-two cards one-to-one between two decks?

Merge Join

We need to take a small leap of faith to continue using this card matching analogy. For now image that you have the ability to perform a perfect shuffle, where exactly one card from each the left and the right stacks fall together through-out the entire shuffle. If you had to find all fifty-two card matches you would likely go with a Hash Match but now that you are bestowed with the gift of Perfect Shuffle you have a better option. You quickly sort each deck then perform a perfect shuffle and BAM! The analogy is more appreciable when the cards are already sorted or the number of them is much higher than fifty-two.

See Also

Physical Join Operators in SQL Server – Nested Loops – SQL Server Performance

Physical Join Operators in SQL Server – Hash Operator – SQL Server Performance

Physical Join Operators in SQL Server – Merge Operator – SQL Server Performance

Nested Loops Join – Craig Freedman’s SQL Server Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs

Hash Join – Craig Freedman’s SQL Server Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs

Merge Join – Craig Freedman’s SQL Server Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs

People

Stuart Ainsworth

Adam Machanic

Ami Levin

Craig Freedman

Wednesday Weekly #sqlserver Links 

Help yourself to this link feast.

Current Feed Content

• Tagged as [ADMIN]

  • Less Than Dot – Blog – Tips and Tricks to Make SQL Server Management Studio Awesome
    Webpage without description
    
  • Semicolon
    Not terminating T-SQL statements with a semicolon is on a deprecation path.
    

• Tagged as [ALTERNATIVE]

  • Stored Procedures vs Functions (Difference between SP & UDF) « SQL Server Programming, Tips & Tricks
    Webpage without description
    
  • Find Last Restart of SQL Server
    How can I tell when my SQL Server instance was last started? In this tip we look at various methods of how to get the start time for a SQL Server instance.
    

• Tagged as [BOOKMARK]

  • PowerShell working with SQLPS or SMO… | Max Trinidad – The PowerShell Front
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [CAREER]

  • Arnie Rowland: Ramblings of a Harried Technogeek : Paying for Free
    It seems like there is a widespread malaise in the country these days. Everyone’s clamoring to cut taxes -but no one wants to have their neighborhood school closed,…
    

• Tagged as [COMMUNITY]

  • Data Head | SQL RNNR
    Well, it’s official. I am a Data Head. It doesn’t change too much my level of geekiness. But I may have to rethink one of the answers given during that
    
  • What is a Microsoft Regional Director? | James Serra’s Blog
    Explains what a Microsoft Regional Director is.
    
  • My first presentation – a recap | Cleveland DBA
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [DENALI]

  • Bob Beauchemin’s Blog | SQL Denali T-SQL features in SQL Azure now
    Webpage without description
    
  • Rows or Range, What’s the difference ? – SQL and the like
    Dave Ballantyne’s blog. Freelance SQL Server database designer and developer at Clear Sky SQL
    

• Tagged as [DISCUSS]

  • The PowerPivot Data MashUp Contest Is Here! – Microsoft Business Intelligence – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    
  • Aaron Bertrand : Connect Digest : 2011-09-22
    Where is SYSDATE()? I’ve talked about this one before, but due to a recent conversation about building a datetime value from separate date/time columns or variables,…
    
  • September Performance Contest | SQL RNNR
    This month SafePeak is sponsoring a contest centered around improving performance in SQL Server. The host of the contest is my friend Robert Pearl. You can
    

• Tagged as [EDUCATION]

  • SQL In The City is comming – SQL Server with Mr. Denny
    RedGate’s SQL In The City is coming to the amazing Skirball Center in Los Angeles just a couple of weeks after the PASS summit. This is a great change to see…
    
  • The SQL Server Conference – SQLBits – Query across the Mersey – 29 Sep 2011 – 1 Oct 2011 – Liverpool
    SQL Server Free Community Conference brought to you by the top MVPs and speakers in the UK covering all aspects of Microsoft SQL Server from Business Inteligence,…
    

• Tagged as [GEEK]

  • Lego’s augmented reality at IDF, eyes-on (video) — Engadget
    It’s not as cool as Chipzilla’s other augmented reality project, but at least this one exists out in the real world. Present at branded storefronts
    
  • Getting Up and Running with the TFS 2010 Object Model – The Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are exceptional technical community leaders from around the world who are awarded for voluntarily sharing their high…
    

• Tagged as [MASHUP]

  • SQL in the Wild » Blog Archive » 24 Hours of PASS Questions
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL Server Wait Types in SQL 2008 | SQL Server Citation – SQL Blog by Hemantgiri S. Goswami, SQL MVP
    SQL Server Citation is a SQL Server blog by Hemantgiri S. Goswami, Surat,India. He is a SQL Server Specialist and SQL Server MVP,Author, President and Leader of Surat…
    
  • more examples on querying XML data « SQL Server Programming, Tips & Tricks
    Webpage without description
    
  • List of blogs – Karthick PK ‘s Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL Stuff: continuous integration
    Webpage without description
    
  • Life, The Universe and SQL Server: Links for Presentations
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [MSFT]

  • Limited support options might be available for certain versions of SQL Server
    Describes that support options may be limited for certain versions of SQL Server.
    

• Tagged as [MULTIMEDIA]

  • SolidQ Journal September Edition – SQL Server BI Blog – SQLServerCentral.com
    Webpage without description
    
  • PASS – The Professional Association for SQL Server > Learning Center > Session Recordings > 24 Hours Fall 2011
    Webpage without description
    
  • Kendra Little Explains How to Design Smarter Indexes | Brent Ozar PLF | Brent Ozar PLF
    How do you know which indexes to create to improve your database performance? Microsoft Certified Master Kendra Little shows you how to find a missing index,
    

• Tagged as [PERFORMANCE]

  • About Sql Server » Blog Archive » Locking in Microsoft SQL Server (Part 9 – Optimistic transaction isolation levels – TANSTAAFL!)
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [RESPECT]

  • SirSQL.net – Blog – Optimizing Database Restores
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL PowerShell Demo – Intro – Cindy Gross – Troubleshooting, tips, and general advice about SQL Server – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    SQL Server troubleshooting, tips, techniques, and advice
    

• Tagged as [RTM]

  • sys.dm_exec_sessions (Transact-SQL)
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL Azure Overview
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SCRIPT]

  • Using Power Shell to script out Replication – REPLTalk covers Using and Tuning SQL Replication – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    
  • September 2011 SQL Server 2008 Diagnostic Queries | Glenn Berry’s SQL Server Performance
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SITE]

  • SQL University | The SQL UPDATE Statement
    Come learn SQL Server from the ground up! Great learning resource for new DBA’s,accidental DBA’s or experienced DBA’s who want to refresh on their basics. This blogging…
    

• Tagged as [SQLGPLUS]

  • Andy Leonard : Running in Circles – A Recap of My First MicroTraining Session
    Earlier today I tried something new: a 30-minute training session using a Google+ Hangout (with extras). The extras include screen-sharing, so I was able to show…
    
  • MicroTraining: Performance Tuning Checklist | Home Of The Scary DBA
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SQLPASS]

  • Know when to hold ‘em « Voice of the DBA
    Webpage without description
    
  • Stacia Misner : So Many Choices, but Only One of Me! PASS Summit 2011 Picks
    It’s that time of year again when the anticipation of the upcoming PASS Summit begins to build. My first attempt at using the Summit Schedule Builder by selecting…
    
  • PASS Board Applications Open October 5
    Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
    

• Tagged as [TOOL]

  • SSMS Tools Pack 2.0 is out! | Jason Crider
    I know I’m a little late on mentioning that this great resource has been updated. Hopefully I can do a series on “tools in your SQL Toolbox” someday, but for …
    
  • RML Questions – CSS SQL Server Engineers – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [WARNING]

  • In Recovery… | How does daylight savings time affect disaster recovery?
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL Server Customer Advisory Team – SQL Server Best Practices
    SQL Server best practices, whitepapers and deep technical lessons learned from large SQL Server customer implementations
    
  • Replication DDL Triggers – Never Say Never
    Because this was a problem that Google was zero help on and I did find a couple other people afflicted with it, I figured I’d write a post about it. The issue was…
    

Wednesday Weekly #sqlserver Links 

Here are some yummy links from this week.

Current Feed Content

• Tagged as [ADMIN]

  • SQL University: Architecture for Small Businesses | The SQL UPDATE Statement
    This post covers general architecture advice for small businesses (SMB) looking to use SQL Server as their database platform of choice.
    
  • Configuring SQL Server to Use Multiple Ports
    In this tip we walk through how to configure a SQL instance to listen on multiple TCP/IP ports.
    
  • Paul White: Page Free Space : How to Find the Statistics Used to Compile an Execution Plan
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [ALTERNATIVE]

  • The ‘smart’ delete « sqlconcept.com
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [BOOKMARK]

  • Aaron Bertrand : Want your bug fixed? File a good bug!
    In some circles I’m known as “the Connect guy” because I’ve filed a heck of a lot of suggestions and bugs that I’ve envisioned or encountered, and I’m often willing…
    
  • InformIT: SQL Server Reference Guide > The SQL Server Sample Databases: AdventureWorks
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [CAREER]

  • Andy Leonard : The Sky Is Falling
    Alarmist? Perhaps. Accurate? In one sense, but not in the most important sense. The Cloud is coming. Are you ready? “Figures Don’t Lie” – Foghorn Leghorn Consider the…
    
  • Exam Taking Tips for Certification – Canadian Solution Developers’ Blog – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    
  • 6 Blog Projects to Improve Your Writing | Brent Ozar PLF | Brent Ozar PLF
    You’re stuck in a rut. You’ve been writing the same thing for the same way for months. You’ve deluded yourself into thinking you’ve built up a style
    

• Tagged as [COMMUNITY]

  • Father of SQL Server? – LivingForSqlServer – SQLServerCentral.com
    Webpage without description
    
  • Jeff Moden is the Exceptional DBA 2011! « spaghettidba
    Webpage without description
    
  • T-SQL Tidy Blog: National SQL Server Week
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [DISCUSS]

  • PowerShell function in Policy-Based Management | Microsoft Connect
    Policy-based management is a fantastic and powerful tool for administrators. As more and more companies are making their migrations to SQL Server 2008
    

• Tagged as [EDUCATION]

  • SQL Server Customer Advisory Team – SQL Server Best Practices
    SQL Server best practices, whitepapers and deep technical lessons learned from large SQL Server customer implementations
    
  • Check out Chicago’s SQL Server User Group. Some great, fresh content coming up! – Ravings of a Microsoft Evangelista – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Microsoft Developer Technical Specialist blog
    
  • Registration – Essential Techniques for SQL Server Memory Management
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [GEEK]

  • Sync Framework Toolkit now Open Source! – < Confessions of .NET Junkie Eric Golpe /> – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Weblog of Eric Golpe, a Microsoft Consulting Services Application Development Senior Consultant
    
  • Ways to save money on Microsoft Software | James Serra’s Blog
    Different options to save money on Microsoft Software.
    

• Tagged as [HUMOR]

  • Cabrones – YouTube
    Webpage without description
    
  • DARTH_VADER_DOES_OFFICE_SPACE 
    Webpage without description
    
  • DILBERT_TESTS_THE_HUMOR_OF_THE_CEO 
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [MASHUP]

  • T-SQL Tuesday #22 Round-Up – Data Presentation – Pearl Knows – SQLServerCentral.com
    Webpage without description
    
  • DBA Blogging With A Smile: 24 Hours of PASS: Answer questions…
    Webpage without description
    
  • Reading list for the week – 19/09/11 | SQL Server DBA Diaries of Pradeep Adiga
    Webpage without description
    
  • Rick Heiges : PASS Summit 2011 – What you can expect at the Conference – Summary
    As I finish up preparing for the Sep 20 (@1pm ET) webcast, I thought a final blog post may be appropriate in order to quickly reference many of the areas that I have…
    
  • PASS | SQLRockstar | Thomas LaRock
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [MSFT]

  • Considerations for the “autogrow” and “autoshrink” settings in SQL Server
    Provides information regarding what happens when you select the “autogrow” setting and the “autoshrink” setting in SQL Server.
    
  • Potential causes of the “SQL Server does not exist or access denied” error message
    Explains potential causes of the “SQL Server does not exist or access denied” error message.
    
  • FIX: SQL Server Agent job randomly stops when you schedule the job to run past midnight on specific days in SQL Server 2005 or in SQL Server 2008
    Fixes an issue in which a SQL Server Agent job stops after 00:00 in SQL Server 2005 or in SQL Server 2008. This issue occurs when you configure the job to run past…
    a>

• Tagged as [MULTIMEDIA]

  • SQL Server Sarah: SQL Saturday Atanta
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [PERFORMANCE]

  • Indexed Views
    To explain what an indexed view is, let’s first look at what constitutes a view. A view may sound like a fancy elaborate thing, however all it is, is a saved…
    
  • The Pros and Cons of Parameter Sniffing
    A look at the pros and cons of parameter sniffing, locked data, table scans, and query recompilation.
    

• Tagged as [RESPECT]

  • When should you use NOLOCK? |
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL Server Memory Management Explained – SQLServerCentral
    Free Microsoft SQL Server articles, news, forums, scripts and FAQs.
    
  • Database Mirroring for Disaster Recovery
    If you’re currently using log shipping for disaster recovery, consider using asynchronous mirroring instead. Asynchronous mirroring offers enhanced manageability and…
    

• Tagged as [RTM]

  • Connecting to SQL Server over the Internet
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SCRIPT]

  • SSIS Junkie : Delete all data from a database
    Sometimes I use this blog to share scripts that I know I’m going to need at some point in the future, this is one of those times. The script below will remove all…
    

• Tagged as [SITE]

  • DBA Twibe – DBA Twitter People
    This page is for Twitter people interested in DBA. All things of interest to DBA’s of SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL & DB2 databases. Also some fun things
    
  • Greplin | What can Greplin search?
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [SQLPASS]

  • PASS First Timers Guide | SQL Awesomesauce
    Hi there ho there everybody! I am now a Big Sister Fearless Leader of a group of PASS Summit first timers! This is the page wherein I record all of my sage
    
  • Announcing Inappropriate PASS Sessions 2011, which we are renaming P.U.S.S. Inappropriate Sessions, and which will be full of AWESOME | SQL Awesomesauce
    Essential information: This is happening October 12, the week of the PASS Summit. The event goes from 7:00pm-10pm, but the sessions themselves
    
  • SQL Saturday in Las Vegas | SQL RNNR
    SQL Community is getting a SQL Saturday training event in Las Vegas
    
  • Less Than Dot – Blog – Attending PASS Summit 2011? Want Lunch? And Free Career Advice? I Have Just The Event…
    Webpage without description
    
  • Inside the SQL Server Clinic… – CSS SQL Server Engineers – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [TOOL]

  • Making SQLNexus work smarter with Enterprise Edition – Gavin Payne
    gavin payne uk
    

• Tagged as [WARNING]

  • The Perils Of Try…Catch Blocks | Shaun J Stuart
    The new Try…Catch T-SQL error trapping mechanism introduced in SQL 2005 is quite handy. But it does have some perils if you don’t think things through
    
  • Overcome update conflict in P2P replication | SQL Server Citation – SQL Blog by Hemantgiri S. Goswami, SQL MVP
    SQL Server Citation is a SQL Server blog by Hemantgiri S. Goswami, Surat,India. He is a SQL Server Specialist and SQL Server MVP,Author, President and Leader of…
    

Wednesday Weekly #sqlserver Links 

Biggest SQL Server feast to date so be sure to come back for seconds.

Current Feed Content

• Tagged as [ADMIN]

  • How to prevent blocking in your SQL Server database | James Serra’s Blog
    Different solutions to prevent blocking in your SQL Server database.
    
  • Changes to automatic update statistics in SQL Server – traceflag 2371 – Running SAP Applications on SQL Server – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    This Blog will provide information about running SAP applications on SQL Server and Windows. The Blog is written by folks of Microsoft who are working with SAP and SQL…
    
  • SQL Marklar : How long is your downtime?
    Webpage without description
    
  • Freccia’s Blog
    Webpage without description
    
  • Is your SQL Server in a VM?
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [ALTERNATIVE]

  • When was the last time i run dbcc checkdb with sucess « Freccia’s Blog
    Webpage without description
    
  • Finding SQL VMs: Part 2
    Webpage without description
    
  • Is your SQL Server in a VM?
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [BOOKMARK]

  • Mythbusting: Concurrent Update/Insert Solutions
    I’m comparing different methods of writing an insert/update stored procedure that will perform well concurrently.
    

• Tagged as [CAREER]

  • The Top Ten Skills You Need for SQL Server « Voice of the DBA
    Webpage without description
    
  • The Modern History of the Resume [INFOGRAPHIC]
    While the look and feel of the resume has been quite constant for most of modern history, the resume has recently been turned on its head to including infographic,…
    
  • Gone Fishin’
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [COMMUNITY]

  • Everything Else Blogs « Most Valuable Blogger « CBS Chicago
    Webpage without description
    
  • WARDY IT Solutions Blog : SQL Server Centre of Excellence
    With all of the awards that WARDY IT Solutions has recently won there has been a running joke about changing the company name to ‘Awardies’. On the back of being…
    
  • The sqlhelp hash tag and sponsored tweets.
    Please don’t. It isn’t that we hate marketing, but the sqlhelp hash tag is for Q&A only. All the other hash tags are totally fair game, but…
    

• Tagged as [DENALI]

  • The Case to Upgrade to SQL Server Denali
    See if SQL Server Denali’s features, such as AlwaysOn, SQL Server Developer Tools, and columnar indexes, are compelling enough to justify upgrading to the new release.
    
  • Lee Everest’s SQL Server, etc. weblog | Submit SQL Server Denali feedback at connect.microsoft.com
    Webpage without description
    
  • Microsoft’s Commitment to Interoperability – SQL Server Team Blog – Site Home – TechNet Blogs
    Insider news about SQL Server and Microsoft’s Informaton Platform
    
  • It’s a File System… It’s a Database Table… It’s SQL Server Denali FileTable! « Lenni Lobel on SQL Server and .NET Development
    Webpage without description
    
  • XEVENT Provider in Denali
    XEVENT provider is new sqlps provider in Denali CTP3. To admit, I was surprised when I saw it. In SQL Server 2008R2 we don’t have any GUI for XEVENT (Extended…
    

• Tagged as [DISCUSS]

  • September Question: Tell us about your DBA interview experiences: good and bad. | SQL Aloha
    Brad M. McGehee, Director of DBA Education, Red Gate Software
    
  • Feedback Requested: Interest in Instructor-Led Online Training – Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008 – Advanced Certifications – Born to Learn
    Webpage without description
    
  • SQL Server Performance – September Story Contest 2011
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [EDUCATION]

  • Following Capacity Crowds in London, Red Gate Brings SQL in the City to LA | Business Wire
    Following capacity crowds in London, Red Gate is bringing SQL in the City to Los Angeles on October 28 at the Skirball Cultural Center in LA’s S
    
  • Did You Know? I’ll be teaching my Internals Class online!
    In my most recent commentary for SQL Server Magazine, online here: http://www.sqlmag.com/article/training-and-certification2/sql-server-training… ,…
    

• Tagged as [GEEK]

  • T-SQL Tidy Blog: How to write a SQL Server Management Studio Add-in for Denali (CTP3) (Part 2)
    Webpage without description
    
  • Google APIs Client Library for .NET Beta is now available for Download | Ginktage
    Google has released its Google API’s Client Library for .NET Beta SDK which is now which is now available for download from Code.google.com Google APIs Client Library…
    
  • SQL Server 2008/R2 & F1 – A Microsoft Case Study on how FILESTREAM can create a formula for performance, integrity & robustness
    Formula1 is the pinnacle of motorsports – a test of performance, integrity & robustness. The cars on the race track are technological marvels – they contain…
    

• Tagged as [HUMOR]

  • USB_REBEL 
    Webpage without description
    
  • Bill Gates Saves Up for a Lamborghini at gcmouli.com
    Webpage without description
    
  • Pointy-haired bosses & SQL
    Not my usual type of blog post but I couldn’t resist sharing this! Thanks to Scott Barrett . (Hopefully that doesn’t instantly remind you of your boss!!)
    

• Tagged as [MASHUP]

  • SQL Server Graphical Query Plans Tutorial
    In this tutorial we will cover how to create SQL Server graphical query plans and how to read them to assist in tuning your queries.
    
  • Stairway to Transaction Log Management in SQL Server, Level 3: Transaction Logs, Backup and Recovery – SQLServerCentral
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  • A list of Microsoft’s Official Twitter Accounts – Tips and tricks: ASP.NET, IIS and .NET development… – Site Home – MSDN Blogs
    This blog focus on web development using ASP.NET and IIS. Also, I am sharing my notes for Visual Studio and ISA / TMG. Please comment for better blog activity.
    

• Tagged as [MSFT]

  • Top 10 Hidden Gems in SQL Server 2005
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  • Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008
    Webpage without description
    

• Tagged as [MULTIMEDIA]

  • Does This Transaction Log Make My Database Look Fat? | Brent Ozar PLF | Brent Ozar PLF
    Face it; your database doesn’t get much exercise. It spends its day sitting on the same old server in the same old rack eating garbage all day long. Sure once
    
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  • Slides For My 24 Hours of PASS Session
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• Tagged as [PERFORMANCE]

  • Table Variables and Parallel Plans – Grumpy Old DBA – Beware the darkside !
    Thoughts on the life of a Production SQL Server DBA Colin Leversuch-Roberts
    
  • Joins Hints, joins algorithms, and Join hint syntax explained
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• Tagged as [RTM]

  • Forced Parameterization
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• Tagged as [SCRIPT]

  • Dealing With Multiple Filegroups
    Everything is good in moderation, and when it comes to having multiple filegroups in your database, I believe this to be true there as well. Having multiple
    
  • A better sp_MSForEachDB
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• Tagged as [SQLGPLUS]

  • PASS Summit 2011 Attendees – Google Docs
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• Tagged as [SQLPASS]

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    Check out this short YouTube video to learn more about the San Francisco and Silicon Valley SQL Server User Groups!
    
  • SQLSaturday #97 Speaker Selection Process | SQL Server Input/Output
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  • The 2011 SQLServerCentral Party at the PASS Summit – SQLServerCentral
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  • PASS 2011 Countdown – 5 Weeks To Go | Strate SQL
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    presents PASS Summit 2011 – Monday Night Networking Dinner — Monday, October 10, 2011 — Seattle, WA
    
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  • PASS Update #64 (Officer Elections)
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  • SQLSaturday #97 Speaker Selection Process
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• Tagged as [TOOL]

  • Great Tools for Formatting T-SQL | SQL Awesomesauce
    I have a big rant I add to….well, to every single SQL session I give. That rant is on formatting code. You see, (I say,) you can’t even begin to understand or
    
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• Tagged as [WARNING]

  • EXECSYNC progress | Cleveland DBA
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  • Why is SQL Server Configuration Manager Missing Services
    When I open SQL Server Configuration Manager (SSCM) I see no services displayed (or just Integration Services). How can I resolve this quickly? Check out this tip…
    

T-SQL Tuesday

Robert Pearl has heeded the call of hosting the T-SQL Tuesday blog party this month. Please click on the #tsql2day image above to learn more about why the topic is “data-presentation”. If you want to read more party-style blog posts then also check out the summary by Adam Machanic called A Year of Tuesdays: T-SQL Tuesday Meta-Roundup.

Presents

Who presents the data to your users? There are occasions when the DBA will be asked to write T-SQL for Manipulating Result Sets. Mr. Pearl mentioned having experience with Using Common Table Expressions in the invitation. I had a similar experience with Using GROUP BY with ROLLUP, CUBE, and GROUPING SETS. Who should present data to the users? Although this blog party has T-SQL in the title this post will be more theoretical than practical.

Tiers

There are always exceptions to any rule but as a general rule I subscribe to the N-Tier / Multi-tier architecting of applications. There are entire books about the benefits but for the sake of a short post I would like to share just two benefits of this architecture for a DBA. If you plan to stay for the soapboxing then please take a minute and look over this diagram by Damon Armstrong on Multi-tier architecture from his post .NET Application Architecture: the Data Access Layer.

Tools

Transact-SQL and SQL Server are used to scatter and gather data. CLR and Business Objects are used for control flow logic. Windows Presentation Foundation and Forms/Controls are used for user interface presentation. Each is a great tool for performing their intended task. You have NEVER used a crescent wrench as a hammer right? In the same tongue in cheek tone, you such NEVER use T-SQL to figure out the next user product suggestion and NEVER use T-SQL to display a dollar sign on the right side of a number.

Really?

Let us pretend that you inherited a stored procedure that does format the output so that there is a dollar sign displayed on the right side of a number. Who do you suppose would be tasked if the user wanted a different format?  (Euros, two decimal places, in millions, negatives in parenthesis)  Each of these has the potential to become a major time suck and also cause some wicked stored procedure sprawl. It has happened, it is still happening and will probably continue to happen but hopefully you are better informed for avoiding the problem.

People

Robert Pearl

Adam Machanic

Damon Armstrong

Welcome to the show