Blogs

Reviving Healthy Work Habits: Toggl and Weekly Highlights

on April 3, 2017 • 3 min read

As I’ve gotten back into the swing of a more-or-less regular work schedule after the initial launch of SQL Workbooks, I’ve revived some of my favorite work habits and free tools.

Tracking time with Toggl

I’m a big fan of the time-tracking tool Toggl. Their tools are easy to use, and even the free version is very cool.

Tracking time may seem like a giant pain if you’re used to using terrible tools for it. But Toggl is simple, and it helps keep me sane.

Which Locks Count Toward Lock Escalation?

on April 3, 2017 • 6 min read

Category: locking , sql-server

A little while back I wrote about Why Indexes Reduce Locks for Update and Delete Queries.

I got a great question on the post from Zac:

What’s not super clear is why it takes out a lock on the whole table, is this because it does a lock escalation as a result of the Full Scan? Will this always happen, or is there a threshold of record update counts where this will occur?

This was tough to answer in just a comment, so I promised a full post on the topic.

Why is My Transaction Log Growing in My Availability Group? (Dear SQL DBA Episode 36)

on March 30, 2017 • 1 min read

Category: database-administration

Tags: alwayson , availability-groups , dear-sql-dba , shrinking , transaction-log-growth , vlfs

A database transaction log is expanding, even though the DBA is running log backups and doesn’t see an open transaction? What’s going on with this Availability Group?

The Case of the Blocking Online Index Create- the Shared Lock that Would Not Quit

on March 28, 2017 • 4 min read

Category: index-tuning , sql-server

Tags: blocking , bugs , create-index , shared-locks

I recently got an interesting question from a reader about running a CREATE INDEX statement with DROP_EXISTING

New weekly newsletter: a SQL Server quiz, poll or cartoon each week

on March 27, 2017 • 1 min read

Category: database-administration

I’ve started up a weekly newsletter! Sign up, and each Tuesday you’ll get a link to a quick SQL Server quiz or poll in your inbox. Most weeks there will be a cartoon thrown in there, too.

New Freebie Course: SSMS Shortcuts & Secrets

on March 23, 2017 • 2 min read

Category: course-announcements

SQL Server Management Studio is so full of tiny buttons and options that it can be easy to miss out on secrets that could make your life easier and more fun.

I’ve got a new online course that shows you my favorite secret tricks and goodies in SSMS!.

When SQL Server Does NOT Use Write Ahead Logging (Dear SQL DBA Episode 35)

on March 23, 2017 • 1 min read

Category: database-administration

Tags: dear-sql-dba

A few episodes ago, I talked about how learning about Write Ahead Logging was a light bulb moment for me, and helped me learn tons of concepts about backups and recovery.

This week, we talk about when SQL Server turns things upside down and doesn’t use write ahead logging: and what it has to do for recovery in these special cases.