Allen White : SQL Server 2008

Set and Verify the Retention Value for Change Data Capture

AllenMWhite — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 01:14:00 GMT

Last summer I set up Change Data Capture for a client to track changes to their application database to apply those changes to their data warehouse. The client had some issues a short while back and felt they needed to increase the retention period from...(read more)

Endpoints Need Privileges Too

AllenMWhite — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:16:00 GMT

Yesterday I delivered a session for the PASS DBA Virtual Chapter on Service Broker. In preparing for the session I was having trouble with my demo environment. Since early this year, after I upgraded my laptop to a Lenovo W510 with 10GB RAM, I've been...(read more)

Change SQL Servers Authentication Mode with PowerShell

AllenMWhite — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:22:00 GMT

Lately I've been working on scripts to check and set security and configuration settings for SQL Server using PowerShell. One of the settings that I normally set and forget at install time is the Authentication Mode setting. Best practices suggest that...(read more)

Speaking at SQL Saturday 61 in Washington DC

AllenMWhite — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:34:00 GMT

The organizers of SQL Saturday #61 in DC (actually Reston, VA) created an Advanced DBA/Dev track for their event, which I think is cool. Both of the presentations I'll be doing there on Saturday are in that track. (In fact, they're the first two sessions...(read more)

Discover Facets and Properties in PowerShell

AllenMWhite — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:56:00 GMT

When you're trying to set up scripts to deploy policies to your servers (because you ALWAYS automate with PowerShell, right?), it can be sometimes difficult to determine exactly what facets are there, and when you do know the facet name, what properties...(read more)

PASS PowerShell/SQL Server PreCon

AllenMWhite — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:17:00 GMT

PowerShell is an amazing tool to help you automate your administrative processes. There are a lot of books and online sources to help you learn PowerShell, but how do you learn how to use it with SQL Server? Simple, just sign up for my PASS PreCon session....(read more)

Speaking at SQL Saturday Nashville

AllenMWhite — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:05:00 GMT

SQL Saturday - Nashville, TN, August 21, 2010 I'll be presenting two sessions this Saturday (August 21, 2010) in Nashville, TN - XQuery Basics and Gather SQL Server Performance Data with PowerShell . The event takes place at Nashville State Community...(read more)

TechEd 2010 Followup

AllenMWhite — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:25:00 GMT

Last week I presented a couple of sessions at Tech Ed NA in New Orleans. It was a great experience, even though my demos didn't always work out as planned. Here are the sessions I presented: DAT01-INT Administrative Demo-Fest for SQL Server 2008 SQL Server...(read more)

Speaking at SQLSaturday #33 in Charlotte

AllenMWhite — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:33:00 GMT

I'll be presenting two sessions this Saturday (March 6, 2010) in Charlotte - Automate SQL Server Administration with PowerShell and Gather SQL Server Performance Data with PowerShell . The event takes place at the Microsoft Charlotte Offices on 8050 Microsoft...(read more)

Speaking about Indexing

AllenMWhite — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:05:00 GMT

I'll be presenting two sessions this week (February 9 and 11, 2010), both on SQL Server Indexing. The first is for the PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter, and will take place on Tuesday at noon EST. You can attend the meeting via this link: https://www323.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=8PQHN2&role=attend...(read more)

Service Broker Basics - Part Deux

AllenMWhite — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:40:00 GMT

Last week I introduced the Service Broker Basics . Today I'd like to cover some of the "plumbing" - the components that allow communication between different servers running Service Broker. Endpoints . There needs to be a channel for the communications...(read more)

Service Broker Basics

AllenMWhite — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:59:00 GMT

I'm currently implementing a Service Broker solution at a client site, and it's been an interesting challenge, because there's not a lot of information out there to help guide you through the process. Here I'd like to walk you through the basics. Message...(read more)

A Couple of Invoke-SQLCMD Issues

AllenMWhite — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:33:00 GMT

In working on a PowerShell script to load data into SQL Server, I decided to use the Invoke-SQLCMD cmdlet included in the snapins provided with SQL Server 2008, and found a couple of issues you should know about. First, as a matter of best practices,...(read more)

PowerShell's "Mini-Shell" Is Not A "Mini" Shell

AllenMWhite — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:27:00 GMT

I just learned about a Connect item entered on Friday: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=475337 . Here's the description in the item. Please invoke the full powershell not a "mini-shell". Powershell is very...(read more)

PowerShell Whitepaper Published

AllenMWhite — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:50:00 GMT

My first whitepaper for Microsoft, Understanding and Using PowerShell Support in SQL Server 2008 has been published. It was a great honor to have been selected to write the paper, and I thank Kalen Delaney for giving me the opportunity. I hope you find it useful.

Allen