Auto-Tuning and the #1 Mindset Problem I Had as a DBA

A few folks have asked: will auto-tuning and adaptive query plans mean the end of performance tuning jobs for SQL Server? In this week’s episode, I talk about why I’m excited about those features rather than afraid of them.

Digging into this problem, I share the #1 mindset problem I had as a DBA, why this mindset is so common among database professionals, and a daily habit that can change your approach to new technology.

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I Thought I Was An Introvert. Turns Out I Was Anxious as #@*] (Dear SQL DBA Episode 53)

In this week’s episode, I’m not answering a reader’s question. Instead, I’m talking about my personal experience with anxiety.

This episode touches on on healthcare, religion, and squishy emotions – and there’s at least one curse word. I don’t talk tech in this episode. (Don’t worry, there’s more of that coming in future weeks.)

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New Free Webcasts for November and December 2017

I’ve Just Scheduled a Whole Batch o’ Free Webcasts!

Webcasts are held on Thursdays at 9 AM Pacific / noon Eastern / 4 pm UTC.

Here’s the upcoming slate of topics:

• Oct 5 – RCSI and Snapshot Isolation
• Oct 19 – Pressure Testing Memory
• Oct 26 – What’s REALLY in That Index?
• Nov 9 – Filtered Columnstore Indexes
• Nov 16 – Defragging: Reorg or Rebuild?
• Nov 30 – In-Memory Indexes & Isolation
• Dec 7 – Indexing for Windowing Functions
• Dec 14 – Serializable & Repeatable Read

I can’t wait to put together these presentations, and I hope to see you on Thursdays!

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Do I Need to Master PowerShell?

As a SQL Server DBA, do you need to be a master of PowerShell scripts?

In this 9 minute episode, I talk about how much you need to know about PowerShell, and examples of ways I personally use (and struggle with) PowerShell.

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Shortcut Update: Toggling Intellisense in SSMS

I like to use the keyboard whenever I can in SQL Server Management Studio. It’s not always easy to remember every shortcut though– especially when those shortcuts change!

Since around the SQL Server 2012 era, you’ve been able to switch Intellisense on or  off on SSMS with the shortcut chord: CTRL + Q, CTRL + I. I remembered this as “Control Quacky Intellisense.”

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Do Index Changes Remove Execution Plans from Cache?

• Impacted query plans are NOT removed from cache at the time you change an index. The next time the query is executed, it will be recompiled, and the new plan and related execution information will be placed in cache.
• This is true whether or not the index is used by the query.
• Even if the index is on columns in the table which are not referenced by the query, the query will recompile on the next run.

To see this in action, you can play along with this sample script.

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Running SQL Server in a Docker Container on a Mac

A user recently asked me what a good use case might be to run SQL Server on Linux in a Docker container.

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