Database Administration

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DML Trigger Status Alerts

by Randy Volters | 04 July 2008 |

17 comments |

When databases suddenly stop working, it can be for a number of different reasons. Human error plays a large part, of course, and the DBA needs to know what these various humans are up to. DDL triggers can help alert the DBA to unauthorized tampering with a... Read more...

Deploying Database Developments

by Alexander Karmanov | 17 June 2008 |

24 comments |

When a team is developing a database application, it is a mistake to believe that deployment is a simple task. It isn’t. It has to be planned, and scripted. Alexander Karmanov describes many of the problems you’re likely to meet, and provides an example solution... Read more...

Professional Certification for DBAs

by Brad McGehee | 16 June 2008 |

29 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...

Using SSIS to monitor SQL Server Databases

by Rodney Landrum | 05 June 2008 |

9 comments |

Rodney Landrum is a DBA who manages over eighty SQL Servers. It is a job that requires a great deal of ingenuity. He needed a way of knowing if there were signs of trouble anywhere in his servers. Here he describes how the use of SSIS saved him a great deal of time... Read more...

SQL Server Tracing: An Automated and Centralized Solution

by Shawn McGehee | 14 March 2008 |

9 comments |

When you are trying to pin down the cause of a problem with a SQL Server, there is probably going to come a time when you need to get 'trace' information. If you've ever done that, you'll know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by the detail. Here, Shawn McGehee... Read more...

SQL Server Alerts: Soup to Nuts

by Robyn Page and Phil Factor | 19 February 2008 |

17 comments |

In which Robyn Page and Phil Factor try to get to grips with the difficult subject of SQL Server Alerting, and give you enough detail to put effective alerting systems into your database. Read more...

Doing Eighty Things at Once

by Rodney Landrum | 25 January 2008 |

3 comments |

Rodney Landrum is a SQL Server DBA for a large company, with at least eighty SQL Servers to look after. He is now a great fan of SQL Multiscript and explains why ... Read more...

The Science of Compliance

by William Brewer | 02 October 2007 |

5 comments |

'William Brewer takes a look at what is involved with IT 'Compliance', and discusses what SOX compliance means for the DBA and IT Application developer.' Read more...

Greetings from the Alpaca Mill

by Timothy Ford | 06 September 2007 |

4 comments |

Timothy Ford fails to make the leap from his cubicle to the Alpaca farm, due to the help, sympathy and advice from Simple-Talk's readers Read more...

Changing Service Credentials

by Rodney Landrum | 05 September 2007 |

5 comments |

One day, you may need to change those service credentials under which your SQL Server services normally run. If you have a number of servers, then you'll really want to read about Rodney's solution. Read more...

What Specification Server Should I Buy?

by Simon Sabin | 13 August 2007 |

5 comments |

Simon Sabin explains why he is always cagey about giving advice on the sort of hardware to run SQL Server on, but admits to some general rules. Read more...

Do Alpacas Dream of farming DBAs?

by Timothy Ford | 13 August 2007 |

36 comments |

When IT starts to stand for 'Implement This', even the keenest DBA begins to dream of farming Alpacas as a career-change. ...and we ask our readers how they would have solved the DBA's dilemma. Read more...

Comparing Python and PowerShell DBA Scripting

by Ron Dameron | 03 August 2007 |

12 comments |

Just when it seemed that there were were no adequate scripting systems for DBAs that could access .NET, along came two. Powershell and Python. Read more...

SQL Server Endpoints: Soup to Nuts

by William Brewer | 06 July 2007 |

6 comments |

SQL Server Endpoints are database objects that define the ways and means that SQL Server 2005 communicates on the network. Any DBA working with SQL Server 2005 will soon need to become familiar with them, particularly if using SOAP, Service Broker or Database Mirroring. Read more...

Foreign Keys and their States

by András Belokosztolszki | 22 June 2007 |

9 comments |

András Belokosztolszki, Red Gate developer, shows how foreign key constraints can be disabled and re-enabled in order to simplify operations such as the bulk loading of data into related tables Read more...

Database High-Availability: Soup to Nuts

by William Brewer | 31 May 2007 |

William Brewer argues that, although there are technologies around that will minimise downtime in most circumstances, they are only part of the solution. At the heart of every robust system, there is planning, documentation, scripting, testing and drill. Read more...

Source Control and Databases

by András Belokosztolszki | 29 May 2007 |

27 comments |

András Belokosztolszki describes the general issues that have to be faced by anyone who wants to implement source control in SQL Server. Read more...

SQL Server Replication Crib Sheet

by Robyn Page and Phil Factor | 14 May 2007 |

13 comments |

Robyn Page and Phil Factor delve into all the things you need to know, rather than want to know, about SQL Server replication. Read more...

What use is a Development DBA?

by Doug Burns | 12 April 2007 |

20 comments |

"I can't help thinking that unless you have a good DBA on a development team and use him or her as a consultant on all database matters, we're all losing out. I end up having work thrown at me that I could teach a trainee to do, which is a waste of my talents, and... Read more...

PowerSMO at Work Part 2

by Dan Sullivan | 12 March 2007 |

In part 3 of Dan Sullivan's in-depth exploration of PowerSMO, the versatile command line utility for managing SQL Server databases, he describes how to control the identity that SMO uses to login to SQL Server, how to set up Server activity monitoring, and how to... Read more...

Ten Common Database Design Mistakes

by Louis Davidson | 26 February 2007 |

39 comments |

Database design and implementation is the cornerstone of any data centric project (read 99.9% of business applications), and yet too often the design phase is rushed through in order to start "getting things done" as quickly as possible. Consequently proper... Read more...

Database Design: A Point in Time Architecture

by Arthur Fuller | 22 February 2007 |

41 comments |

In most relational database implementations. Update and Delete commands destroy the data that was there prior to their issue. However, some systems require that no information is ever physically deleted from or updated in the database. In this article, Arthur Fuller... Read more...

SQL Server Security Cribsheet

by Robyn Page | 20 February 2007 |

27 comments |

If you've ever had brain meltdown trying to understand SQL Server users, roles, permissions, logins etc. then Robyn Page's security cribsheet might be just be your Panacea. Read more...

PowerSMO At Work Part I: DBA Scripts and Functions

by Dan Sullivan | 19 February 2007 |

3 comments |

Dan Sullivan delves deeper into PowerSMO, the versatile command line utility for managing SQL Server databases. Using a certificate strategy, he provides a step-by-step guide to creating and deploying secure, signed DBA scripts. He then describes how to use PowerSMO... Read more...

Pop Rivett and the Uncontrolled Release

by Pop Rivett | 15 February 2007 |

4 comments |

Pop Rivett offers a hard lesson in the dangers of an uncontrolled software release. Read more...

Managing SQL Server using PowerSMO

by Dan Sullivan | 31 January 2007 |

8 comments |

Most DBAs don't have time to perform routine processes manually. Everything has to be scripted, automated and scheduled. Here, Dan Sullivan describes how a combination of PowerShell and SMO ("PowerSMO") can provide a familiar but powerful command line tool for... Read more...

The Data Dialog

by Phil Factor | 30 January 2007 |

12 comments |

Most companies have long since jettisoned the role of the grizzled old data architect, whose job it was to ensure a common understanding of the meaning of all data entities in the enterprise, and the actions carried out on it. Many are just now coming to realize... Read more...

Refactoring Databases: The Process

by Scott W. Ambler and Pramod J. Sadalage | 09 January 2007 |

1 comment |

Database refactoring can greatly improve the efficiency of your database code. However, even a seemingly simple database refactoring such as "Move Column" can be tricky to implement correctly in a production environment. In this article, Scott Ambler and Pramod... Read more...

Automating Common SQL Server Tasks using DMO

by Phil Factor | 27 November 2006 |

20 comments |

Phil Factor's DMO automation procedures provide a valuable additon to any DBAs toolkit. Read more...

Creating CSV Files Using BCP and Stored Procedures

by Nigel Rivett | 20 November 2006 |

50 comments |

Nigel Rivett demonstrates some core techniques for extracting SQL Server data into CSV files, focussing on a stored procedure approach that gives complete control of the format of the extracted data. Read more...

Pop Rivett's SQL Server FAQ No.5: Pop on the Audit Trail

by Pop Rivett | 03 November 2006 |

27 comments |

Pop provides a cunning, trigger-based technique for auditing the activity on SQL Server tables Read more...

More Database Administration and Development Automation using DMO

by Phil Factor | 04 October 2006 |

16 comments |

Phil Factor provides a handy DMO automation toolkit to take care of some core SQL Server administrative tasks. Read more...

SQL Server 2005 Snapshots

by Andrew Calvett | 03 April 2006 |

17 comments |

Find out about Database Snapshots, new to SQL 2005 Enterprise Edition, which provide a read-only, "virtual" copy of a database, at a given point in time. Read more...

The identity crisis in replication

by Hilary Cotter | 05 July 2005 |

21 comments |

This article discusses three common problems DBAs are likely to encounter when columns have an identity property that will auto-increment its value when data is inserted. These problems are humorously referred to as the identity crisis. Read more...

Tracking tempdb growth

by Brian Moran | 11 April 2005 |

Runaway tempdb growth can be a problem, so how do you track its growth and correlate the growth to specific commands? Read more...