SSIS Interview Questions for Data Profiling, Protection Level and Package Configuration
When preparing for SQL Server Integration Services interview be sure to understand what questions could be asked in the interview. In this tip series (tip 1, tip 2, tip 3, tip 4), I will try to cover some common Integration Services interview questions to help you prepare for an SSIS interview. In this tip we will cover interview questions related to the data profiling, protection level, package configuration and more.
Introduction to SharePoint 2010 for SQL Servers DBAs
My company is getting ready to rollout SharePoint 2010. As the only DBA on staff, I need a quick introduction to the product that is geared to a DBA. Can you help me out? Check out this tip to learn more.
Troubleshooting IntelliSense in SQL Server Management Studio 2012
IntelliSense can be a very powerful ally for the T-SQL developer. It can significantly reduce keystrokes, prevent you from guessing at object names, make sure you spell them correctly (and use the right case), and can help you understand the interface to several programmable entities such as stored procedures and built-in functions. In Management Studio 2012, there are some enhancements to IntelliSense that will make it even more powerful - including more intelligent caching, and partial keyword matching (so you no longer have to remember what letter the waits DMV *starts* with - just type "waits" and it will narrow it down).
I have seen several cases in forums, newsgroups and on twitter where folks complain that IntelliSense is "not work
Rebuilding SQL Server indexes using the ONLINE option
As each year goes by the uptime requirement for our databases gets larger and larger, meaning the downtime that we have to do maintenance on our databases is getting smaller and smaller. This tip will look at a feature that was introduced in SQL Server 2005 that allows us to leave our indexes online and accessible while they are being rebuilt.
Identifying What Runs at Startup on SQL Server
My auditors have asked me to identify what runs when my SQL Servers first start up. In this tip we look at different things that can run when an instance of SQL Server starts.
SQL Server DBA Backup and Recovery Interview Questions
If you are preparing for a SQL Server DBA interview as the interviewer or interviewee, today's tip should offer value to you. This tip has interview style questions graded as either easy, moderate or advanced related to SQL Server backup and recovery. Check out the questions and good luck!
SQL Server Agent Interview Questions
In the latest installment of the SQL Server interview questions, we will outline questions suitable for a DBA interview to assess the candidates skills related to SQL Server Agent. In this tip, the questions are there to read, but the answers are intentionally hidden to really test your skills. Once you read the question and have determined your answer, then highlight the answer to see how you did. Good luck!
Junior SQL Server DBA Interview Questions
My organization is in the process of hiring a junior SQL Server DBA to add to our team. What are some fair questions to ask as a portion of the interview process? I want to make sure we hire someone who has a good base of knowledge. I am concerned are Senior SQL Server DBAs are looking to stump the candidates which is not really my goal. Do you have any suggestions?
Dataset and tablix filtering in SQL Server Reporting Services
I'm creating a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) report based on datasets that I have no control over and they have more data in the result set than what is required for the report. Is there a way that I can filter the datasets inside the SSRS report itself? Check out this tip to learn more.
Determine data latency between Publisher and Subscriber in SQL Server Transactional Replication
I have transactional replication configured in my production environment. It appears the subscriber data is quite far behind from the publisher database. In this tip we look at ways to identify how far behind the subscriber is for replication.
Use SQL Server Code Snippets to encourage consistent conventions
Many development teams find it challenging to maintain consistent naming and coding conventions. In this tip we look at how to use SQL Server Code Snippets and storing them in a centralized location for all developers.
New FORMAT and CONCAT Functions in SQL Server 2012
SQL Server 2012, code named Denali, has new String functions such as FORMAT and CONCAT that can be used to perform an operation on a string input value and return a string or numeric value. In this tip we take a look at some basic examples of how this could be used.
Auditing sysadmin on multiple servers using PowerShell
I have a requirement to periodically audit for members of the sysadmin role across all my servers. I'd like to automate this and I've heard PowerShell is a good match. In order to feed a downstream governance application, I'd like to simply output the members into text files. In this tip we show you how.
Cumulative Aggregates in SQL Server Reporting Services
Typically when working in Sales and Marketing Departments, every individual or group of individuals are given a Target for each year. All of these targets rolls up to the company's targets. Often companies will have one or more standard scorecards / dashboards to monitor the overall health of the organization based on a set of pre-defined KPIs /metrics. However, the individuals at the bottom or middle of the hierarchy need a way to review the detailed numbers for the current month, current quarter or current year to see how they are approaching the target. In this tip, we will see how to build a report which shows the cumulative sales amount for the current month, current quarter (QTD) and current year (YTD) in a single crosstab (tablix) re
Fix SQL Server Agent on Windows Failover Cluster
I was trying to install SQL Server 2008 R2 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster, but the setup did not complete successfully. Upon further investigation, the issue seems to be caused by a DNS entry that was then fixed by the systems administrator. While the SQL Server cluster resource group was successfully brought online after the DNS issue was fixed, I noticed that the SQL Server Agent was not listed as a resource type under the Other Resources section of the cluster resource group. In this tip we look at how to manually add the SQL Server Agent to the cluster resource group.
SQL Server Performance Tuning and Monitoring Tutorial
SQL Server is a great platform to get your database application up and running fast. The graphical interface of SQL Server Management Studio allows you to create tables, insert data, develop stored procedures, etc... in no time at all. Things run great initially, but over time performance degrades. This is where performance monitoring and tuning come into play.
Get Alerts for Specific SQL Server Login Failed Events
In a recent MSSQLTips.com question, a user asked how they could get an alert whenever a login failed due to the account being locked out. In this tip I provide different options to handle this need.
Introduction to SQL Server CLR table valued functions
Table Value Functions (TVF) are great if you need to return multiple rows and/or multiple columns, because table valued user defined functions return their result as a table. Since result set acts like a table, you can just return the data or you can join the results to other tables. TVFs can be created using TSQL or the Common Language Runtime (CLR) and in this tip we walk through a simple example of a CLR function that returns file level contents from a folder.
SSIS Interview Questions for Memory Management and Deployment
Are you an aspiring SQL Server Integration Services Professional? Do you need to prepare for an upcoming SSIS interview? Check out this tip series (tip 1, tip 2, tip 3, tip 4) on interview questions and this tip related to SQL Server Integration Services memory management and package deployment.
.NET Application for SQL Server Data Management
You are assigned the task of creating an application to maintain the data for a new application from a data administration perspective. The application should be able to add new records, but first check to see if the record already exists. If the record already exists, it should update the record. The user should also be able to list and delete the selected records. Typically the approach is to build separate stored procedures for inserting, updating, deleting and selecting all the records in the table. What if you are asked to create just one stored procedure for all this functionality per table to lessen the number of stored procedure to maintain in a project from a data administration perspective? What would you do? Is there a way to inc
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