11Aug 2010 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Viva Las Vegas!

SQL Server, T-SQL
I won't be going to Las Vegas, but I will be presenting to the Las Vegas SQL Server Users Group, S3OLV. The sesssion will be "Introduction to Execution Plans." Please swing by if you're in the area. I'm not sure if they'll make the LiveMeeting available to the public or if they'll record the session. But if they do, please attend that way too.
Read More
11Aug 2010 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview

PASS, T-SQL
Registration is open for the second 24 Hours of PASS this year. This one is going to be a preview of the Summit itself. So all the sessions are tied, in some manner, to sessions being given at the summit.Here's a link to go and register. I'm very excited to be able to say that I'll be presenting in this 24HOP. One of my presentations at the Summit this year is Identifying and Fixing Performance Problems Using Execution Plans. It covers pretty much what it says, methods for fixing performance problems by exploring the information available within execution plans. But, how do you know you have a performance problem? That's where my preview session comes in. Identifying Costly Queries will show you several ways to gather metrics on your system so that you…
Read More
01Aug 2010 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

A Milestone

Uncategorized
I just passed 100,000 views on the blog. That's from 400 posts over a period of time starting in March of 2008. You guys have posted 1129 comments. The average views per week went from 39 in 2008 to 160 in 2010. I realize others out there are hitting 100,000 a week, but for some of us small time bloggers, this is a big deal. I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by and I hope my attempts at understanding SQL Server, PowerShell, SCOM, spatial data, Visual Studio, ORM and whatever else I've posted about has been helpful in some way.
Read More
27Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Powershell Remoting with SQL Server

PowerShell
One of the best things to come out with Powershell V2 is remoting and asynchronous calls. Between the two of these, you can basically send commands simultaneously to a number of SQL Server instances. BUT... and there always seems to be one of those, there is a lot of work required to get this running right. I'm going to outline what I did recently to test the ability of PowerShell to begin administering my servers remotely. Hopefully this provide the basis for a checklist and a how-to. I'll update this post over time so that I get things right. Enable remoting on the machines you wish to call This requires admin privileges, but it's pretty simple unless you need to modify which ports are available, etc. But to get it going the easiest…
Read More
23Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

SQL University: Introduction to Indexes, Part the Third

SQL Server, T-SQL
Nice to see most of you have managed to fight your way through the shoggoths outside to attend another lecture at the Miskatonic branch of SQL University. This will be the third and final part of the introduction to indexes lecture. Please, if you're going mad, step out into the hall. Our previous two lectures introduced the concept of indexes and then talked about two types of indexes, clustered and nonclustered. This lecture will cover the concept of statistics as they relate to indexes. If you followed the previous lecture then you know that indexes are stored in a Balanced Tree or B-Tree structure. You know that this storage mechanism is intended to provide fast retrieval of data. But, how can the query engine inside SQL Server know which index…
Read More
21Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

SQL University: Introduction to Indexes, Part the Second

SQL Server, T-SQL
Welcome once more to the Miskatonic branch of SQL University. Please try to concentrate. I realize the whipoorwills singing outside the window in a coordinated fashion that sounds almost like laboured breathing can be distracting, but we're talking about indexes here. We left last class with a general idea what an index is, now it's time for some specifics. There are several different kinds of indexes, as we talked about last class. But the two you're probably going to work with the most are clustered, non-clustered. Each of these indexes is stored in a structure called a B-Tree, a balanced tree, not a binary tree. That's a very important distinction. A B-Tree is a double-linked list that is defined by the keys of the indexes on the top and intermediate pages, and…
Read More
19Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

SQL University: Introduction to Indexes, Part the First

PowerShell, Spatial Data, SQL Server, T-SQL
Right, all eldritch tomes are to be closed and Elder Signs are to be put away during this course. Welcome to the History department here at the Miskatonic branch of SQL University. Why the History department? Well, first, because I like history and have frequently thought I would enjoy teaching it. Second, because I needed a hook upon which to hang part of the story I want to tell. What story is that you ask? Why, the story of the Dewey Decimal System. We are interested in studying history and historians must classify our subjects carefully. For advanced students we'll be covering the Library of Congress Classification System and the... Right, I give, this is the introductory class on indexes. If you thought we were covering something exciting and sexy like PowerShell,…
Read More
16Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Steve Jones to Run for PASS Board

PASS
I couldn't hide the lead. Steve Jones (blog|twitter) has announced he's running for the PASS board. I'm excited. I'm almost as excited as if I were going to run. Steve is not simply a major influencer in what we call the SQL Community. He brings two things to the party that I think are going to make him very successful on the board. First, he gets things done. He just does. He's one of those guys that seems to keep it together, just enough, to accomplish stuff. Second, he has real ideas. He's not someone who is simply going to iron out a wrinkle or three at the Summit. He's going to propose stuff that will make a difference. Put those two things together and I think we've got reason to…
Read More
14Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

In the Clouds

Misc
The July meeting for the Southern New England SQL Server Users Group is tonight. Andrew Novick will be talking about SQL Azure. It'll be a great meeting. Our sponsor is Red Gate. They bought pizza.
Read More