Blogs

Internals Matter: Why You Should Check Your Page Verify Settings

on January 25, 2011 • 8 min read

This post is about two things:

1) Your Page Verification Settings are Critical

You should confirm you are running with the correct page verification settings on your SQL Server databases. It’s very important, and I’ll show you why.

2) I Should Attend the Awesome SQLSkills Master Immersion Event - Internals and Performance

My scripts to demo the importance of page verification settings are part of my entry to win free registration to the SQLSkills Master Immersion Event on Internals and Performance in February. Read more about the training here.

Corrupting Databases for Dummies- Hex Editor Edition

By Kendra Little on January 24, 2011 • 8 min read

Category: backup-recovery

This Post Tells You How To Corrupt a SQL Server Database with a Hex Editor in Gruesome Detail

And that’s all this post tells you. Not how to fix anything, just how to break it.

Read from the Right End of the Index: BACKWARD Scans

By Kendra Little on January 21, 2011 • 5 min read

Category: query-performance

Tags: backward-scans , index-scans , query-optimization

Optimizing queries is the most fun when you don’t need to add indexes. There’s nothing quite so nice as finding a way to make reading data faster, without slowing down writes or creating new data structures that need to be maintained.

Writing a Technical Blog: Why to do it and what to write about

on January 13, 2011 • 5 min read

Category: job-searching-and-career-development , blogging

Recently I read Paul Randal’s ( blog | twitter ) post, “So you want to blog about SQL Server?” and it got me to thinking.

2011: More Nerdy Drawrings (TSQL Tuesday #14)

on January 11, 2011 • 2 min read

Category: database-administration

Tags: tsql2sday , art

This month’s #tsql2sDay is hosted by Jen McCown ( blog | twitter ) and Jen’s question is “What techie resolutions have you been pondering, and why?”

Date Rounding Tactics and the Tiny Devil of SMALLDATETIME

By Kendra Little on January 6, 2011 • 7 min read

Category: tsql-programming

Tags: dateadd , datediff , datetime , smalldatetime

With every new year I think a little bit about time and dates. This posts looks a little more at that in TSQL.

Filling in Data Potholes Redux: Tally Tables vs CTEs

on January 4, 2011 • 7 min read

Category: performance-tuning

Tags: cte , execution-plan , feedback-2 , tally-table , tsql

In A Previous Installment… our heroine (that’s me) rediscovered CTEs, specifically in the recursive style. That was in my post “Filling in Data Potholes with Recursive CTEs.”