Kendra Little

kendra little

Automated Deployments and the Art of the Database with Database Michael J Swart

Automated Deployments and the Art of the Database with Database Michael J Swart

In this episode, Michael J Swart joins the Dear SQL DBA Podcast to talk about databases, automation, and how he’s come to illustrate some of the coolest blog posts ever to be written about data.

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PAGELATCH, PAGEIOLATCH, and LATCH Waits in SQL Server

PAGELATCH, PAGEIOLATCH, and LATCH Waits in SQL Server

I’ve long found it tricky to remember and explain the differences between three similar-sounding waits in SQL Server that all have “LATCH” in the name: PAGELATCH, LATCH, and PAGEIOLATCH waits.

Here’s an illustration that explains these waits, along with wait subtypes.

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Jer and Kendar Explore Optimized Locking

Jer and Kendar Explore Optimized Locking

🔥 UPDATE (November 2025): Microsoft has introduced optimized locking v2 with significant improvements. The new version includes Skip Index Locks (SIL) and Query Plan LAQ Feedback Persistence, which further reduce lock overhead. The improvements are most pronounced for nonclustered indexes. Optimized locking v2 is available in SQL Server 2025 and Azure SQL.

SQL Server has a new feature that’s currently only available in Azure SQL Database: Optimized Locking.

Jeremiah Peschka joins Kendra (aka Kendar) to talk through the docs and nerd out on locks, blocks, and how to pronounce the acronym “LAQ”.

Prefer to explore optimized locking with a diagram? I’ve also got a little sketchnote for ya.

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Dear SQL DBA - Advice for Technical Leaders with Alex Robson

Dear SQL DBA - Advice for Technical Leaders with Alex Robson

By Kendra Little on August 31, 2023

Category: career

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a VP or Director of Engineering? I chatted with Alex Robson about leadership in technology, what you can get out of coaching or an MBA program (should you be interested), and what makes a high performing team.

Alex’s site and blog: https://robsonconsulting.services

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Msg 195: STRING_SPLIT Is Not a Recognized Built-In Function Name

Msg 195: STRING_SPLIT Is Not a Recognized Built-In Function Name

Yesterday, I was writing some Transact SQL to dust off the cobwebs. I got confused when I was playing around with the STRING_SPLIT function, and kept getting the error:

Msg 195, Level 15, State 10, Line 2
'STRING_SPLIT' is not a recognized built-in function name.

I checked my database compatibility level, which must be 130 or higher for the function to be available. My database compatibility level was 160, so that was fine.

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Dear SQL DBA - Performance Tuning with Erik Darling

Dear SQL DBA - Performance Tuning with Erik Darling

By Kendra Little on August 18, 2023

SQL Server performance tuning expert Erik Darling joins the podcast today to chat about how good queries can go bad and how bad queries can get better.

He also answers the question on everyone’s mind: if he was a database, what database would he be?

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What To Do When They Are Sure It Was The Database... All The Time

What To Do When They Are Sure It Was The Database... All The Time

It can be tiring to have the database constantly be the Prime Suspect for performance problems.

I’ve had many variations of this conversation over the years:

“Something happened, and we’re pretty sure it was the database. Again.”

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