I'm working on a PowerShell script to show me the trending durations of my backup activities. The first thing I need is the data, so I looked at the Standard Reports in SQL Server Management Studio, and found a report that suited my needs, so I pulled out the script that it runs and modified it to this T-SQL Script. A few words here - you need ...

Using the Server Management Objects (SMO) library, you don’t even need to have the SQL Server 2008 PowerShell Provider to read the SQL Server Error Logs – in fact, you can use regular old everyday PowerShell. Keep in mind you will need the SMO libraries – which can be installed separately or by installing the Client Tools from the SQL Server ...

Most data professionals I’ve met work in two modes: we plan for our day, and we react to the situations around us. I’m staring at my list of things that I need to do today right now, which is my planned work. Of course, I have no idea how much of that will really get done – it’s optimistic to be sure. On the other hand I have several systems I ...

SQL Server has two major security vectors: “Principals”, which are primarily users and roles (groups), and “Securables”, which are primarily objects on the server or in the database, like tables or views. Many applications use Logins for their users, and then tie those Instance Logins to Database Users. The Database Users are then given rights and ...

I have scripts that re-create my databases for testing and development purposes. But sometimes I want to take the data from a set of tables and move it as well – I could use SSIS, or a SELECT INTO statement, but what if I want to “re-set” the data to a point in time? In other words, load it with some “base data”? I thought this might be a good ...

Red Gate just published a new free e-book in their High Performance SQL Server series.  The book is SQL Server Tacklebox: Essential Tools and Scripts for the Day to Day DBA by Rodney Landrum. Rodney is a professional DBA by trade, an author by choice, and a SQL Server MVP. With the SQL Server Tacklebox Rodney demonstrates dozens of ...