Microsoft SQL Server Tips & Tricks

2020-07-17

Tips and Tricks for the SQL Server Enthusiast

SQL Server 7.0 support to end on 11 Jan 2011

For additional details check the link below:...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 12/16/2010

SQL Server 2008 Best Practices Analyzer (SQL BPA) - Video

The SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) gathers data from Microsoft Windows and SQL Server...

Author: Balmukund Date: 12/13/2010

Unable to connect to SQL , “Error executing extended stored procedure: Invalid Parameter (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 22001”

Issue When we try to connect to a SQL instance from SQL server Management studio we get the...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 11/12/2010

RESTORE DATABASE fails while trying to restore password protected backup set from SSMS

ISSUE: I’m trying to restore a database backup from SSSMS-UI, however it fails in an initial...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 11/02/2010

SQL Server Backup Simulator

We at SQL Server support team, continue to invest our time in writing tools and utilities which can...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 10/27/2010

A recent discussion on the #sqlhelp hashtag on Twitter got me researching into this issue. The error...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 10/27/2010

SQL Server 2008 service fails to start, after applying Service Pack 1

Recently, I worked on an interesting case where customer after upgrading an instance of SQL Server...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 10/27/2010

Troubleshooting tempdb growth due to Version Store usage

Troubleshooting tempdb growth due to Version Store usage Recently I worked on an issue where the...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 10/13/2010

Scan Count meaning in SET STATISTICS IO output: Part 2

In my last blog post, I had explained what Scan Count means and how it is calculated for a query...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/29/2010

Sometimes Replication Monitor shows number of Undistributed Transactions as a very high number, but replication itself works properly.

An overview of the inner working of a replication monitor We might see large number of Pending...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/17/2010

Upgrade to SQL 2008 from 2005 (cluster) fails with The cluster group 'SQL GROUP' could not be moved from node 'NODENAME1' to node 'null' , 0x8007139F

Problem We try to upgrade to SQL 2008 from SQL 2005 in a cluster setup and it fails on the Active...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/16/2010

Upgrade from SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2008 R2 might fail with the error “Wait on the Database Engine Recovery Handle Failed”

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION ================ · During upgrade from SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2008...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/16/2010

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Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/15/2010

SCAN COUNT meaning in SET STATISTICS IO output

What does the Scan Count output in the SET STATISTICS IO output actually mean? I have seen multiple...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/14/2010

Troubleshooting Error 511 using XEvents

Now that we have XEvents in SQL Server 2008 and above, some of the issues that required us to...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/09/2010

OPEN SYMMETRIC KEY command prevents query plan caching

This was quite an interesting issue. We started troubleshooting a SQL Server blocking problem due to...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/07/2010

HOW TO IDENTIFY COMPRESSED TABLES BEFORE RESTORING/MIGRATING DATABASE to any edition other than Enterprise Edition of SQL Server 2008

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION =================== While trying to migrate the database from sql2008 enterprise...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 09/03/2010

PRB: SQL Server Browser service does not start due to Winsock Monitoring Software

IssueDuring an upgrade from SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 Express, the SQL Browser service failed to start,...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 08/31/2010

INF: SQL Security - Restricting access to public on server/database objects, its implications and ownership chains

INF: SQL Security - Restricting access to public on server/database objects, its implications and...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 08/31/2010

TRANSACTION LOG BACKUP and RESTORE SEQUENCE: Myths & Truths

In a recent issue with a customer, I came across a strange SQL belief (or say a DBA Myth) regarding...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 08/26/2010

The hidden gems among DMVs: sys.dm_os_sys_memory

I have always been a big fan of troubleshooting SQL Server performance issues with the help of DMVs....

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 08/25/2010

While Installing SQL 2005 Express Edition we hit the error -- The SQL Server System Configuration Checker cannot be executed due to WMI configuration on the machine Error:2147749896 (0x80041008)

Symptoms: Application Popup Error: =========================== The SQL Server System Configuration...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 06/29/2010

How to set Soft-NUMA for SQL Server 2008 R2

This is probably one of the murky topics of SQL Server. Add to this equation, hardware NUMA and the...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 06/28/2010

Can I listen to you Mr. MSDTC?

MSDTC unlike on earlier version of Windows, support multiple instances on Windows 2008. You can...

Author: sequelguy Date: 06/04/2010

SQL Server 2008 R2 setup fails on Windows 7 with the error: Version's parameters must be greater than or equal to zero

Symptom: While installing SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM in a Windows 7 box, noticed an error message: SQL...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/31/2010

The bcp utility fails to export the data:

Scenario SQL Server 2000 bcp utility fails to export data with the below error message:...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/31/2010

INF: Permissions required for SQL Server Service account to use SSL certificate

In this blog, we will discuss a scenario which is common across the SQL Server environment using...

Author: Nikesh Mhatre Date: 05/28/2010

Installing Client tools for SQL 2008 doesn’t populate the SMO in the SQL Assemblies folder

Recently I encountered this issue. Customer was trying to install SMO by using the following switch...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/28/2010

Backup Software fails to take System State backup if SQL server VSS writer Service is running

This blog describes a very simple but tricky issue. A Backup software was unable to take system...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/28/2010

Unable to see the properties of DTC in the Component Services

After Preparing and Installing SQL Server 2008 Cluster on a Windows 2008 Server Cluster from the...

Author: sequelguy Date: 05/27/2010

A query in SQL Server Management studio could fail with Error: "An error occurred while executing batch. Error message is: The file exists

Below is one of the scenarios, I recently witnessed where a query was failing when executed from...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/27/2010

Monotonically increasing clustered index keys can cause LATCH contention

In this post, I shall explain why monotonically increasing or decreasing clustered index key columns...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/27/2010

GUID vs INT Debate

I recently read a blog post on what was better using GUIDs or Integer values. This is been an age...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/27/2010

SQL Server Performance Dashboard Reports in SSMS – Introduction, Install, DateDiff error & Modified for SQL 2008

SQL Server Performance Dashboard Reports in SSMS – Introduction, Install, DateDiff error &...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/27/2010

SQL Express 2005 Setup Failure

ISSUE: You have SQL 2005 SP2 Express Edition or any of earlier version of SQL Express and you decide...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/26/2010

INF: New SQL Server features in SQL Server 2008 R2 –Part 2

Continued from...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/12/2010

INF: New SQL Server features in SQL Server 2008 R2 – Part 1

SQL Server 2008 R2 expands on the value delivered in SQL Server 2008 by providing a wealth of new...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/12/2010

SQL 2008 R2 CTP3 Upgrade directly to RTM.

“We’re getting questions on whether folks can upgrade directly from CTP3 to RTM. The recommended and...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/12/2010

Incorrect BufferCount data transfer option can lead to OOM condition

SQL Server Books Online holds information on a variety of topics concerning the product which can...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 05/06/2010

How to “REGENERATE DEK” with a different certificate on Encrypted Mirrored database

As part of Encryption Key management in SQL Server 2008 Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 04/30/2010

SQL Server Agent cannot start because the instance of the Server Instance is not the expected Instance

Problem: SQL Server Agent cannot start because the instance of the Server Instance is not the...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 04/30/2010

SQL Server 2008 & SQL Server 2008 R2 clustering FAQ’s:

Can I use SQL 2008 slipstreamed installer to install SQL Server 2008 failover cluster? Yes....

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 04/30/2010

How to restore database backup (Full and Transaction logs) after regenerating Database Encryption Key (KEY) with a new certificate having no impact on Log sequence number (LSN) chain.

It’s a very common scenario where customers have their database encrypted and hold multiple...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 04/26/2010

Network Binding Order Rule Warning in SQL Server 2008 Cluster Setup Explained

Network Binding Order Rule Warning in SQL Server 2008 Cluster Setup Explained This blog present some...

Author: AmruthaVarshiniJ Date: 04/22/2010

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