November 2010 - Posts

• All Those Extra DR Bits, Part 1.5

  I got some positive feedback on the last post, All Those Extra Bits We Need for DR , so I wanted to put up another technique I’m using to coordinate DR servers – monitors for missing objects. I’ve got two techniques for this, each with pros and cons, Read More... Posted Friday, November 26, 2010 3:17 PM by merrillaldrich | 3 Comments

• All Those Extra Bits We Need for DR

  If you’re running mirrored databases or log shipping for disaster recovery, no doubt you’ve faced the pain of keeping all the ancillary objects up to date on your DR server, such as SQL Agent jobs, logins, database owners, custom error messages, and so Read More... Posted Tuesday, November 23, 2010 6:28 PM by merrillaldrich | 10 Comments

• How to use the SSIS Cached Lookup against a Type II Dimension

  Rounding out the PASS Summit today I attended Davide Mauri’s post-con on Building a BI Solution A to Z . It was excellent – so good that I went down to registration and bought the pre/post conference BI track DVD’s just so I can lock our BI team in a Read More... Posted Friday, November 12, 2010 8:11 PM by merrillaldrich | 0 Comments

• Optimized Thursday: My DEADLOCK_PRIORITY goes to 11

  Just for variety, and in honor of one of Itzik Ben-Gan’s query optimization tips, I’m going to post today using a backward scan, end of day to beginning of day. But in one thread. Rimshot! (I think half the conference attendees were in that room, so if Read More... Posted Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:43 PM by merrillaldrich | 0 Comments

• Wicked Wednesday

  Quite a packed day at the Summit again. In retrospect I am finding that there might be a method to my crazy/subconscious/random selection of sessions to attend: at work lately my primary responsibilities have really settled into two main areas: HA/DR Read More... Posted Wednesday, November 10, 2010 10:49 PM by merrillaldrich | 0 Comments

• Summit-licious

  OK, so there are WAY too many things at the Summit to attend. It's an embarrassment of riches. A few sessions may be duds, but it's just as likely that three or more can't-miss sessions are running at the same time. So here's just a snippet about my day, Read More... Posted Tuesday, November 09, 2010 9:51 PM by merrillaldrich | 0 Comments

• Honed my Mad Transaction Isolation Skillz

  At the Summit today I attended what was basically a Transaction Isolation Level boot-camp, with the ever-illuminating Kalen Delaney . If Isolation Levels were biceps, Locking Hints were pecs and transaction-related DMVs were six-pack abs, I have to say Read More... Posted Monday, November 08, 2010 10:37 PM by merrillaldrich | 0 Comments

• Nice Summit Pre-Party Tonight

  Drove from my place in West Seattle over to the event Andy Warren organized at Lowell’s in the market tonight. Outstanding! It was so nice of him to to organize this, and it was a big crowd and a great party. Lowell’s was just the right venue. Met a handful Read More... Posted Sunday, November 07, 2010 9:32 PM by merrillaldrich | 0 Comments Filed under: pass

• What Not to Do: Devastating Lessons in Poor Customer Service from Delta Airlines

  I work in a customer-service centered organization, one, in fact, that is literally owned by its customers. Our customers and our “shareholders” are the same people. Just now I am coming off of a vacation and headed to the PASS Summit next week. Also, Read More... Posted Saturday, November 06, 2010 11:52 PM by merrillaldrich | 3 Comments

• Pop Quiz: Restore a Database to the Point in Time when a Full Backup Started?

  Recently we've had to interview some SQL Server DBA candidates for our team, and we were looking for the type of open-ended technical questions that would draw out interviewees and let us get a sense of their thought process. A surprisingly simple question Read More... Posted Monday, November 01, 2010 12:26 PM by merrillaldrich | 6 Comments Filed under: backup, disaster recovery, transactions