T-SQL Archives - Page 12 of 26

30Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Sharing the Love

Just a few blog posts that you ought to go and read. First up, Tom LaRock maintains a listing of SQL bloggers split up into various cleverly named groups to show you where to go to get good information. This really is an excellent collection of bloggers. It's the people I go to when I need information. Some of them are better resources than the Books Online when they post something. Personally, I've made the list for the last several years, but Tom has decided that I'm worth of elevation, so I've gone from the Model database to the Master database. Thanks Tom. One blog that's not on Tom's list is Tom's blog. You should be reading that regularly too. And congratulations to Tom again on making MCM. Next, one…

22Oct 2012 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Clustered Indexes Have Statistics Too

SQL Server, T-SQL

It may seem obvious, but I've heard more than one person suggest to me that statistics on a clustered index just don't matter. That if the clustered index can satisfy a given query, it's going to get selected. That just didn't make any sense to me, but I haven't seen anyone set up a test that shows how it might work one way or the other. Here you go. First, I'm going to create a table and load it up with data. I'm intentionally using strings because I don't want to confuse the ease of management of integers within indexes. I also went for one column that would have a very attractive set of statistics and one that would have a very ugly set. Also, because we're only dealing with…

16Oct 2012 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

RML Utilities and SQL Server 2012

T-SQL

I'm working through some code that I haven't touched recently and I'm running it for the first time on a SQL Server 2012 server. The code is a way to load information into the RML utilities and I started hitting errors. First, I hit an error that my server couldn't be connected to, but thanks to Erin Stellato (blog|twitter), I was able to quickly fix that. Then I hit this: Number of processors: 2 Active proc mask: 0x00000003 Architecture: 9 Page size: 4096 Highest node: 0 Package mask: 0x00000001 Processor(s): 0x00000001 Function units: Separated Package mask: 0x00000002 Processor(s): 0x00000002 Function units: Separated Processors: 0x00000003 assigned to Numa node: 0 -Ic:\performancetuning\rml.trc -oc:\bu -SDOJO\RANDORI Using language id (LCID): 1024 [English_United States.1252] for character formatting with NLS: 0x00060101 and Defined: 0x00060101 Attempting to…

15Oct 2012 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Why Tune Queries?

PASS, T-SQL

It's just a query against the database. If things are running slow, buy some more memory, a faster CPU or get a few more disks. Right? Seriously, tuning queries is just a pain and there's no clear evidence that writing them correctly or tuning them has a major impact. Right? Yeah, I'm being facetious. I've spent a considerable portion of my career Â trying to make T-SQL code run faster. The fact is, throwing moneyhardware at the performance problem can fix it in many instances. At least temporarily. But let's face it, you're constantly changing the code. There are new queries, changes to old queries, it's always changing. The code is probably the most volatile aspect of a database system because it is the easiest to change. So, you may think…

24Sep 2012 by Grant Fritchey 14 Comments

Interviewing a DBA

PASS, SQL Server, T-SQL

I'm not a fan of trivia style interview questions. Yes, I ask a few because you have to in order to immediately eliminate the completely unqualified applicants. Even those types of questions, in my opinion, need to be focused on concepts and not syntax. The reason we have the Books Online with SQL Server is because you shouldn't have to memorize every possible command along with all their parameters. Want to know how to write a MERGE query? Look it up. What does a MERGE query do? That you ought to know. I think concepts are important. Questions about the recovery models within SQL Server aren't trivia about the system, they're trying to get to your understanding of how point in time recovery works. I don't really like posting interview…

07Sep 2012 by Grant Fritchey 12 Comments

SQL Server vs. Oracle

PASS, Redgate Software, SQL Server, T-SQL

Just so we're clear, I use SQL Server. I like SQL Server. But, this doesn't mean I have anything against Oracle. It's fine. It's good. But, I know very little about it. However, throughout my career I've found myself needing to understand it better. Either because I'm trying to train Oracle people to better use SQL Server and I need to be able to speak a little of their language to facilitate translation. Or, because I'm defending SQL Server on some technical point that the Oracle people don't completely understand. Or, because I've said something stupid about Oracle in my ignorance. Now, you know how busy you are, and I know how busy I am, so I doubt either of us has the time we really need to learn Oracle…

28Aug 2012 by Grant Fritchey 34 Comments

Please, Call Me Richard

Professional Development, T-SQL

I presented a session at the SQL Saturday event in Oklahoma City last weekend. The event itself was pretty good. The organizers put everything together pretty well and the venue was quite nice. Plus, since I grew up in Oklahoma (Tulsa), it was a chance to go home. The event was good, but my presentation went a little downhill. The name of the session is "Top Tips for Better Stored Procedure Performance." I should rename it to just say "T-SQL Query Performance" because it's not focused on stored procedures, but on queries. The presentation is 1/3 talking about how you write your queries, naming syntax, formatting, etc. The second 2/3 is all about common mistakes made in writing T-SQL such as using NO_LOCK everywhere, nesting views, joining and nesting multi-statement…

22Aug 2012 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

24 Hours of PASS, Fall 2012

PASS, SQL Server, T-SQL, Tools

It's time to get your learn on again. The schedule for the Fall 24 Hours of PASS is up and ready for registration. This is the Summit preview session, so many (most, all) of the speakers are showing off some of what you can learn at their sessions at the PASS Summit 2012 itself. It looks like a pretty exciting bunch of topics given by some of the best professionals in the industry. I'll be presenting Three Ways to Identify Slow Running Queries on September 20th, 1400 GMT. This is just a sub-set of the information that I'll be presenting during my all day pre-conference seminar, Query Performance Tuning: Start to Finish. The full seminar I talk about how to measure the performance of your systems, identify which queries are…

01Aug 2012 by Grant Fritchey 7 Comments

Execution Plans … In the Cloud!

Azure, T-SQL

If youâ€™re moving to a fully-fledged SQL database as part of Azure you may never even touch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Instead you may do all the management of your SQL database through the Management Portal. You can actually do everything you need to through this tool. This includes writing and testing T-SQL statements. Believe it or not, it includes execution plans. But, if youâ€™re used to seeing this from a query: Then you may be a little bit surprised at this: Believe it or not, those are identical plans. Yeah, the graphics are different, radically so. But the plans, those are the same. I have a small test database that I have loaded into my local server and onto my Azure SQL Server database. It has identical structures…

16Jul 2012 by Grant Fritchey 12 Comments

SQL In The City: London 2012, Recap

Professional Development, Redgate Software, T-SQL, Tools

Wow! How's that for a recap? The concept for the SQL in the City events is pretty simple. Put on a free event that instructs people on SQL Server, Azure, and related technologies along with a healthy smattering of Red Gate tools. All teaching is done by some of the best people in the business (and me). This was the second event in London. The concept was launched there last year and succeeded quite well. This year the event filled it's registrations so quickly that Red Gate felt obligated to have a second day, which almost completely filled up too. There were more than 350 people in attendance on Friday, and then, on Saturday, a day off, another 250+ people showed up. That's well over 600 attendees over the two…

Category: T-SQL