Tips
Connecting to SQL Server Using SQLCMD Utility
In this tip we cover how to connect to a SQL Server Database Engine using the SQLCMD utility with Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication.
Find SQL Servers On Your Network with OSQL and SQLCMD
A common problem noted among database managers and network administrators is the number of unauthorized SQL instances on a network. Without proper application of service packs and hotfixes these instances create holes through which hackers and others can exploit the database infrastructure. Another situation you may find yourself in is needing to connect to a server instance whose name you can't recall. In either case you can find what you need by using OSQL or SQLCMD.
Finding SQL Server Code Errors using Query Analyzer
When dealing with large scripts it is sometimes difficult to find all errors in your code prior to executing the code. You can review the code and look for syntax issues as well as do searches to make sure the code is intact, but when dealing with a large amount of code some problems are sure to surface.
Free Microsoft Tools to Help Setup and Maintain PerfMon for SQL Server
Everyone knows that PerfMon is a great tool to monitor and maintain metrics about SQL Servers. Perfmon offers a great way to collect a baseline then compare it to current statistics when there is a problem in order to find the bottleneck. Everyone agrees, there is no clear threshold per metric, i.e. if you are over "xxx", your server is good or bad. As such, I wrote an article about "Setting up Performance Monitor to always collect SQL Server performance statistics" and "Creating SQL Server performance based reports using Excel". If you have a few servers, it is easy to setup manually; however, what if you have many SQL Servers you need to monitor and manage?
Free SQL Server tools from Microsoft
There is often the need to do something with SQL Server that does not necessarily come shipped with the product. Thanks to Microsoft there are plenty of additional free tools that can be used to enhance your SQL Server environment.
Free SQL Server Troubleshooting Tool from Microsoft
Getting insight into a SQL Server issue can be difficult without a comprehensive set of information. One option to capture a comprehensive set of SQL Server system information for troubleshooting is via 1 or more of the Microsoft Product Support (MPS) Reporting Tools. The MPS reports are free from Microsoft and cover many of their platforms.
How does Enterprise Manager get its data
Have you ever wondered where Enterprise Manager gets its information from and how you can retrieve the same data without using Enterprise Manager? Well it's not a big secret. Most of the information that is displayed in the GUI is based on information gathered from queries, but what queries?
Insert Extended Characters into a SQL Server Table Using OSQL and TSQL
The OSQL utility uses ODBC to communicate with SQL Server. The user’s problem is that the ODBC driver he is using to connect to the database is performing translations on the character data in the T-SQL script. Extended characters, which are not in the standard ASCII character set, are translated by the driver based on drive settings. The character translation option is ON by default when SQL Server executes scripts through the OSQL utility.
SQL Formatter Tool
One of the things that drives me crazy is having to format my SQL statements. It is hard enough writing the statements in the first place, but then having to take the time to format the code, make keywords uppercase, using tabs to align column names, tables names etc... is just a lot of work. Here is a free online formatter tool that allows you to just paste in your SQL statements and it will format the statement automatically based on some of the options you select.
SQL Server 2005 Log File Viewer
System and application log data is essential when troubleshooting a SQL Server issue. In SQL Server 2000 this was a bit cumbersome, because critical data had to be reviewed from multiple interfaces. With SQL Server 2005 the Management Studio ships with the Log File Viewer which gives insight into SQL Server and Windows Event Logs all in one interface.
SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Query Designer
When writing queries I either need to reference and existing data model or visualize the tables in my head in order to complete my query. Does a visual query tool exist in the SQL Server 2005 tool set? If so, how can I access it and use it to streamline my development process?
SQL Server Documentation Tools
Maintaining documentation about your SQL Server databases is a big task. No matter how many developers or DBAs you may have, keeping documentation current is a challenge. In most cases you only need to view a portion of the database defined in an easy to view format, but if this is something you don't keep up with on a constant basis your efforts will never yield up to the minute documentation. In addition, SQL Server stores all kinds of meta data about your database objects, so it makes sense to utilize this data since it is easily accessible. You could take the time to right queries and reports, but why bother when there are so many documentation products already available.
SQL Server Product Selection Checklist
I have seen the recent addition of SQL Server product listings on your web site and see the value in being able to find all of the SQL Server products per category in one place. Going to your web site rather than having to search all over the Internet to find the products myself is a big time saver. Now that I know where the products are located, how should I go about evaluating them? I know I only have a limited amount of time to take a look at the products and need to select the correct one for our environment. I really do not want to get bugged by all of the sales people at these companies, but I do want to take a look at their products. So how should I go about evaluating products in the SQL Server market?
Troubleshooting Windows Remote Desktop Connections
Everyday throughout the course of their work, system administrators, DBAs, developers and IT support personnel remotely log into different servers in their network. The tool that most people use is Remote Desktop Connection, a nifty little application that comes with Windows XP Professional and later. Remote Desktop Connection communicates with the terminal services running on the remote server and allows the user to access another computer's applications and desktop as if logged in directly from the console . It's a fairly intuitive application, but there are few little tweaks that administrators should know. In this tip we will try to show some of these tweaks.
Using the Services applet to Administer SQL Server Services Remotely
I am a SQL Server Database Administrator responsible for multiple SQL Servers. To perform administrative tasks on these SQL Servers, I login to those servers, using Remote Desktop. In doing so, my desktop is overlapped with the remote Server's desktop. This causes an inconvenience for me to access the active programs on my workstation. I would like to perform as much SQL Server administration as possible from my workstation and avoid using Remote Desktop as much as possible. Do you have any suggestions?
Web Based Database Administration for SQL Server
I am working at an organization where I need to have access to my SQL Servers around the clock. I do not have a company laptop to check into the environment and troubleshoot issues directly so I am looking for alternatives to meet the need. We are on a tight budget so I wanted to find out what native tools are available. Do you have any suggestions for SQL Server tools to meet this 24X7 management need?
Top 10
SQL Server 2005 Log File Viewer
System and application log data is essential when troubleshooting a SQL Server issue. In SQL Server 2000 this was a bit cumbersome, because critical data had to be reviewed from multiple interfaces. With SQL Server 2005 the Management Studio ships with the Log File Viewer which gives insight into SQL Server and Windows Event Logs all in one interface.
Troubleshooting Windows Remote Desktop Connections
Everyday throughout the course of their work, system administrators, DBAs, developers and IT support personnel remotely log into different servers in their network. The tool that most people use is Remote Desktop Connection, a nifty little application that comes with Windows XP Professional and later. Remote Desktop Connection communicates with the terminal services running on the remote server and allows the user to access another computer's applications and desktop as if logged in directly from the console . It's a fairly intuitive application, but there are few little tweaks that administrators should know. In this tip we will try to show some of these tweaks.
Free SQL Server tools from Microsoft
There is often the need to do something with SQL Server that does not necessarily come shipped with the product. Thanks to Microsoft there are plenty of additional free tools that can be used to enhance your SQL Server environment.
Web Based Database Administration for SQL Server
I am working at an organization where I need to have access to my SQL Servers around the clock. I do not have a company laptop to check into the environment and troubleshoot issues directly so I am looking for alternatives to meet the need. We are on a tight budget so I wanted to find out what native tools are available. Do you have any suggestions for SQL Server tools to meet this 24X7 management need?
SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Query Designer
When writing queries I either need to reference and existing data model or visualize the tables in my head in order to complete my query. Does a visual query tool exist in the SQL Server 2005 tool set? If so, how can I access it and use it to streamline my development process?
SQL Server Documentation Tools
Maintaining documentation about your SQL Server databases is a big task. No matter how many developers or DBAs you may have, keeping documentation current is a challenge. In most cases you only need to view a portion of the database defined in an easy to view format, but if this is something you don't keep up with on a constant basis your efforts will never yield up to the minute documentation. In addition, SQL Server stores all kinds of meta data about your database objects, so it makes sense to utilize this data since it is easily accessible. You could take the time to right queries and reports, but why bother when there are so many documentation products already available.
Connecting to SQL Server Using SQLCMD Utility
In this tip we cover how to connect to a SQL Server Database Engine using the SQLCMD utility with Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication.
Free Microsoft Tools to Help Setup and Maintain PerfMon for SQL Server
Everyone knows that PerfMon is a great tool to monitor and maintain metrics about SQL Servers. Perfmon offers a great way to collect a baseline then compare it to current statistics when there is a problem in order to find the bottleneck. Everyone agrees, there is no clear threshold per metric, i.e. if you are over "xxx", your server is good or bad. As such, I wrote an article about "Setting up Performance Monitor to always collect SQL Server performance statistics" and "Creating SQL Server performance based reports using Excel". If you have a few servers, it is easy to setup manually; however, what if you have many SQL Servers you need to monitor and manage?
SQL Formatter Tool
One of the things that drives me crazy is having to format my SQL statements. It is hard enough writing the statements in the first place, but then having to take the time to format the code, make keywords uppercase, using tabs to align column names, tables names etc... is just a lot of work. Here is a free online formatter tool that allows you to just paste in your SQL statements and it will format the statement automatically based on some of the options you select.
Find SQL Servers On Your Network with OSQL and SQLCMD
A common problem noted among database managers and network administrators is the number of unauthorized SQL instances on a network. Without proper application of service packs and hotfixes these instances create holes through which hackers and others can exploit the database infrastructure. Another situation you may find yourself in is needing to connect to a server instance whose name you can't recall. In either case you can find what you need by using OSQL or SQLCMD.
Last 10
Troubleshooting Windows Remote Desktop Connections
Everyday throughout the course of their work, system administrators, DBAs, developers and IT support personnel remotely log into different servers in their network. The tool that most people use is Remote Desktop Connection, a nifty little application that comes with Windows XP Professional and later. Remote Desktop Connection communicates with the terminal services running on the remote server and allows the user to access another computer's applications and desktop as if logged in directly from the console . It's a fairly intuitive application, but there are few little tweaks that administrators should know. In this tip we will try to show some of these tweaks.
Connecting to SQL Server Using SQLCMD Utility
In this tip we cover how to connect to a SQL Server Database Engine using the SQLCMD utility with Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication.
Using the Services applet to Administer SQL Server Services Remotely
I am a SQL Server Database Administrator responsible for multiple SQL Servers. To perform administrative tasks on these SQL Servers, I login to those servers, using Remote Desktop. In doing so, my desktop is overlapped with the remote Server's desktop. This causes an inconvenience for me to access the active programs on my workstation. I would like to perform as much SQL Server administration as possible from my workstation and avoid using Remote Desktop as much as possible. Do you have any suggestions?
Insert Extended Characters into a SQL Server Table Using OSQL and TSQL
The OSQL utility uses ODBC to communicate with SQL Server. The user’s problem is that the ODBC driver he is using to connect to the database is performing translations on the character data in the T-SQL script. Extended characters, which are not in the standard ASCII character set, are translated by the driver based on drive settings. The character translation option is ON by default when SQL Server executes scripts through the OSQL utility.
Free Microsoft Tools to Help Setup and Maintain PerfMon for SQL Server
Everyone knows that PerfMon is a great tool to monitor and maintain metrics about SQL Servers. Perfmon offers a great way to collect a baseline then compare it to current statistics when there is a problem in order to find the bottleneck. Everyone agrees, there is no clear threshold per metric, i.e. if you are over "xxx", your server is good or bad. As such, I wrote an article about "Setting up Performance Monitor to always collect SQL Server performance statistics" and "Creating SQL Server performance based reports using Excel". If you have a few servers, it is easy to setup manually; however, what if you have many SQL Servers you need to monitor and manage?
SQL Server Product Selection Checklist
I have seen the recent addition of SQL Server product listings on your web site and see the value in being able to find all of the SQL Server products per category in one place. Going to your web site rather than having to search all over the Internet to find the products myself is a big time saver. Now that I know where the products are located, how should I go about evaluating them? I know I only have a limited amount of time to take a look at the products and need to select the correct one for our environment. I really do not want to get bugged by all of the sales people at these companies, but I do want to take a look at their products. So how should I go about evaluating products in the SQL Server market?
Web Based Database Administration for SQL Server
I am working at an organization where I need to have access to my SQL Servers around the clock. I do not have a company laptop to check into the environment and troubleshoot issues directly so I am looking for alternatives to meet the need. We are on a tight budget so I wanted to find out what native tools are available. Do you have any suggestions for SQL Server tools to meet this 24X7 management need?
SQL Server Documentation Tools
Maintaining documentation about your SQL Server databases is a big task. No matter how many developers or DBAs you may have, keeping documentation current is a challenge. In most cases you only need to view a portion of the database defined in an easy to view format, but if this is something you don't keep up with on a constant basis your efforts will never yield up to the minute documentation. In addition, SQL Server stores all kinds of meta data about your database objects, so it makes sense to utilize this data since it is easily accessible. You could take the time to right queries and reports, but why bother when there are so many documentation products already available.
Find SQL Servers On Your Network with OSQL and SQLCMD
A common problem noted among database managers and network administrators is the number of unauthorized SQL instances on a network. Without proper application of service packs and hotfixes these instances create holes through which hackers and others can exploit the database infrastructure. Another situation you may find yourself in is needing to connect to a server instance whose name you can't recall. In either case you can find what you need by using OSQL or SQLCMD.
Finding SQL Server Code Errors using Query Analyzer
When dealing with large scripts it is sometimes difficult to find all errors in your code prior to executing the code. You can review the code and look for syntax issues as well as do searches to make sure the code is intact, but when dealing with a large amount of code some problems are sure to surface.
