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Authors  >  Brad McGehee

Brad McGehee Brad McGehee
Brad M. McGehee is a MCITP, MCSE+I, MCSD, and MCT (former), and currently the Director of DBA Education for Red Gate Software. Brad is also an accomplished Microsoft SQL Server MVP, with over 16 years SQL Server experience and over 7 years training experience. Brad is a frequent speaker at User Groups and industry events (including SQL PASS, SQL Server Connections, devLINK, SQLBits, SQL Saturdays, TechFests and Code Camps), where he shares his 16 years of cumulative knowledge and experience. A well-respected name in SQL Server literature, Brad is the author or co-author of more than 15 technical books (freely available on SQLServerCentral) and over 275 published articles.
How to Document and Configure SQL Server Instance Settings
by Brad McGehee | 30 January 2012 |
Occasionally, when you install identical databases on two different SQL Server instances, they will behave in surprisingly different ways. Why? Most likely, it is down to different configuration settings. There are around seventy of these settings and the DBA needs... Read more...
Database Properties Health Check
by Brad McGehee | 13 September 2011 |  9 comments |
Within an instance of SQL Server, the database settings can have a direct effect on the database’s behavior, performance and availability. Sometimes, it is difficult to tie a symptom to a cause, so it is wise to routinely check and record these settings. Before you... Read more...
Brad's Sure Guide to SQL Monitor 2.3
by Brad McGehee | 10 June 2011 |
In this article, Brad McGehee takes you through everything you need to know to get the very most out of SQL Monitor 2.3. Using practical examples, he talks you through configuring and reporting to show how to get the most out of the software. Read more...
Correlating SQL Server Profiler with Performance Monitor
by Brad McGehee | 16 February 2011 |  2 comments |
Both Performance Monitor and SQL Server Profiler provide valuable information about your server. However, if you combine the data from the two sources, then this correlated information can help find some of the subtler bugs. Brad explains how. Read more...
Brad's Sure Guide to SQL Storage Compress
by Brad McGehee | 07 December 2010 |  7 comments |
SQL Storage Compress does just that, and encrypts as well, allowing the files associated with a live database to take much less file-space, and securing them from unauthorised access. Why would this be useful, and is it really a free lunch? Brad puts it to the test... Read more...
Brad's Sure Guide to SQL HyperBac 5.0
by Brad McGehee | 16 September 2010 |  3 comments |
In the second of a series of in-depth software reviews, Brad investigates SQL Hyperbac 5.0. This has always been thechoice of the gurus for backup software, but Brad now blows away the mystery and explains how it works; for it uses a simple but very clever idea to... Read more...
Rebuilding Indexes using the SSMS Database Maintenance Wizard
by Brad McGehee | 18 August 2010 |  3 comments |
Index fragmentation can cause problems with query performance. Indexes therefore need to be occasionally rebuilt. the Rebuild Index task of the SSMS Database Maintenance Wizard drops and rebuilds every index in a database. It is effective but an off-line activity... Read more...
Brad's Sure Guide to SQL Virtual Restore
by Brad McGehee | 05 August 2010 |  16 comments |
In the first of a series of in-depth software reviews, Brad investigates a newcomer, SQL Virtual Restore. What does it aim to do? How does it achieve it? Why is it safe to use? What are the benefits? Brad aims to answer a range of questions fairly and squarely. Read more...
Automate and Improve Your Database Maintenance Using Ola Hallengren's Free Script
by Brad McGehee | 20 July 2010 |  8 comments |
If you ever feel uneasy when you set about handcrafting database maintenance jobs for SQL Server, it may be the voice of your conscience saying 'Ola, Ola!'. Follow your conscience. Ola Hallengren has already crafted a superb set of routines to do this for you. Why... Read more...
Brad's Sure DBA Checklist
by Brad McGehee | 20 January 2010 |  33 comments |
Sometimes, all a DBA needs, to help with day-to-day work, is a checklist of best-practices and dos and don’ts. It provides a handy reminder. Brad has come up with a new update to his famous checklist Read more...
Database Maintenance Plans in SSMS: An Overview
by Brad McGehee | 06 January 2010 |  4 comments |
Maintenance plans are essential. Microsoft provide two tools, the Maintenance Plan Wizard and the Maintenance Plan designer, to assist the busy DBA to get started with one, but they don't include all the likely tasks, so Custom-created T-SQL or PowerShell scripts... Read more...
Mastering SQL Server Profiler - eBook Download
by Brad McGehee | 07 October 2009 |  7 comments |
Download Brad McGehee's "from the ground up" guide to SQL Server's most powerful performance diagnostic tool. Read more...
Brad's Sure Guide to SQL Server Maintenance Plans
by Brad McGehee | 02 October 2009 |  5 comments |
Brad's Sure Guide to Maintenance Plans shows you how to use the Maintenance Plan Wizard and Designer to configure and schedule eleven core database maintenance tasks, ranging from integrity checks, to database backups, to index reorganizations and rebuilds. Read more...
A Code of Conduct for DBAs
by Brad McGehee | 03 September 2009 |  8 comments |
Despite the fact DBAs are protectors of an organization’s knowledge, and privy to much confidential information, there is no clearly defined set of rules and standards to help govern and guide their ethical conduct. Brad McGehee, in an article based on a chapter... Read more...
How to Become an Exceptional DBA, 2nd Edition
by Brad McGehee | 30 July 2009 |  1 comment |
A 2nd edition of Brad McGehee’s popular "career guide" for DBAs, designed to help new and prospective DBAs find their feet in the profession, and to advise those more-experienced on how they can excel at their jobs, and so become Exceptional DBAs... Read more...
Do Not Forget to Maintain Your Indexes
by Brad McGehee | 09 July 2009 |  1 comment |
Index Maintenance Plans are essential for the well-being of a database. However, there is more to the process than just the use of the wizard. Brad McGehee takes this one stage further in suggesting that, instead, you should create your own index maintenance tasks... Read more...
Brad's Sure Guide to Indexes
by Brad McGehee | 11 June 2009 |  18 comments |
In order to best appreciate the reasons for, or importance of, the various administrative tasks that are needed for indexes, it is a good idea to take a look at how the various types of indexes work. Who better to help with a clear expanation for this than Brad McGehee? Read more...
How to Identify Blocking Problems with SQL Profiler
by Brad McGehee | 13 March 2009 |  9 comments |
Many SQL Server developers and DBAs have, in the past, had their own favourite diagnostic Stored Procedures for investigating blocking issues, but since SQL Server 2005, it is a good idea to use the SQL Profiler for all but the most complex problems. This has a... Read more...
How to Identify Slow Running Queries with SQL Profiler
by Brad McGehee | 03 February 2009 |  7 comments |
With SQL Server Profiler, it is easy to discover all those queries that are running slowly. Once poorly performing queries are identified, there comes the harder task of speeding them up. Once again, the Profiler can provide a lot of information that can help... Read more...
Mastering SQL Server Profiler
by Brad McGehee | 30 January 2009 |  1 comment |
Brad McGehee's "from the ground up" guide to SQL Server's most powerful performance diagnostic tool... Read more...
SQL Server 2008: Performance Data Collector
by Brad McGehee | 29 December 2008 |  7 comments |
With Performance Data Collector in SQL Server 2008, you can now store performance data from a number of SQL Servers in one central location. This data is collected by a collection set on each server and stored in a shareable management data warehouse (MDW). Reports... Read more...
Tech-Fest of Champions: How to run a community IT conference
by Brad McGehee | 04 November 2008 |  1 comment |
Everybody who attended seems to speak well of the IndyTechFest. It is a great example of how to organise a free local conference for IT people who wish to increase their skills and knowledge. So how is it done? Brad McGehee decided to find out by talking to one of... Read more...
SQL Server 2008: The New Data Types
by Brad McGehee | 11 October 2008 |  11 comments |
Brad continues his helicopter-level view of the most interesting new features of SQL Server 2008 with a look at the new data types, their use and their significance. Read more...
Policy-Based Management
by Brad McGehee | 26 August 2008 |  4 comments |
Every DBA knows the frustration of trying to manage tens of servers, each of which has a subtly different configuration. Policy-based management, now introduced in SQL Server 2008, could ease a lot of this pain. Brad McGehee explains.... Read more...
Management Studio Improvements in SQL Server 2008
by Brad McGehee | 14 August 2008 |  41 comments |
Not everybody who had to use Management Studio when it first appeared in SQL Server 2005 liked it. The paint was still wet and there was still scaffolding around. To give Microsoft its' credit, it has succeeded in transforming it into a much more useful product, in... Read more...
How to Track Down Deadlocks Using SQL Server 2005 Profiler
by Brad McGehee | 20 June 2008 |  26 comments |
It is irritating, sometimes alarming, for the user to be confronted by the 'deadlock message' when a deadlock happens. It can be a tiresome business to prevent them from occurring in applications. Fortunately, the profiler can be used to help DBAs identify how... Read more...
Professional Certification for DBAs
by Brad McGehee | 16 June 2008 |  33 comments |
In this article, republished from Brad McGehee's book 'How to Become an Exceptional DBA', Brad explains why there are several advantages for DBAs in continuing to take exams throughout their careers. Read more...
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