SQL Server Dynamic Data Masking Discovery and Implementation
Read this tip to learn how to identify columns for dynamic data masking and how to apply.
Thomas LaRock is a Head Geek at SolarWinds and a Microsoft Certified Master, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, VMware vExpert, and former Microsoft Certified Trainer. He has over 20 years’ experience in the IT industry in roles including programmer, developer, analyst, and database administrator.
LaRock has spent much of his career focused on data and database administration, which led to his being chosen as a Technical Evangelist for Confio Software in 2010. While at Confio, his research and experience helped to create the initial versions of the software now known as SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer. LaRock joined the SolarWinds family through the acquisition of Confio in 2013.
LaRock is also the Immediate Past President of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) and is an avid blogger, author, and technical reviewer for numerous books about SQL Server management. He now focuses his time working with customers to help resolve problems and answer questions regarding database performance tuning and virtualization for SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, SAP, and DB2, making it his mission to give IT and data professionals longer weekends.
Restore Individual Tables Using SQL Server BACPAC
In this tip we look at how to restore individual tables using SQL Server BACPAC.
How to Find Long Running Job Steps in Microsoft SQL Server
In this script we look at how to find SQL Agent job steps that are running longer than normal.
How to Find Long Running Jobs in Microsoft SQL Server
In this tip we look at how to find long running jobs by comparing past runs and using standard deviations to find issues.
Exporting and Importing SQL Server Always Encrypted Certificates for Client Access
The exporting and importing of SQL Serer certificates is not a familiar task for most DBAs, so in this tip we look at how this should be done.
New Facets and Properties in SQL Server 2012
SQL Server 11 (code named ‘Denali’) is due to be released at the end of this year. With a new version comes new features. I was curious to know what new facets were to be exposed for Policy-Based Management in this new version but could not find anything
SQL Server Database Mirroring Performance Monitoring
Many people deploy performance monitoring solutions in a one-size-fits-all manner. That is, they tend to build a solution that can be easily deployed to multiple servers and capture basic information from each server. The trouble is that not every serve
SQL Server Policy Base Management Has Clustered Index Condition
As SQL Azure gains in popularity, more and more people find themselves thinking about having their databases migrated to SQL Azure. Microsoft has published a list of general guidelines at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee336245.aspx. One of those
Decimal Conversions in SQL Server Change Datatype Format
When performing simple calculations inside of SQL Server using decimals, you can observe what may seem as odd behavior with the resulting datatype. Instead of returning the desired decimal format SQL Server generates an entirely different decimal format.
Script to check all your linked server connections for SQL Server
You need to quickly check all linked server connections for a given instance or list of instances for SQL Server. In this tip I present a PowerShell script that can be used to quickly check all linked servers.
Secure and disable the SQL Server SA Account
Ideally your SQL instance would be configured to only allow for Windows Authentication. There may be times when mixed mode authentication is necessary at which point you will should configure a method to rotate the ‘sa’ password on a regular basis. You wa
SQL Server 2008 Backup Compression
With SQL 2008 you have the ability to compress your database backups saving disk space but more importantly saving time.
SQL Server 2008 Audit Change Group
Auditing your SQL Server instances has become more of a concern these days. SQL Server 2008 introduced a new feature named SQL Server Audit. Enabling this feature can be done in just a few simple steps, but so could disabling this feature. And when it com
SQL Server 2008 Auditing Feature
Auditing your instances of SQL has become more of a concern these days. SQL 2008 introduced a new feature named SQL Server Audit. In this tip I will cover how to setup auditing.
Striping SQL Server Database Backups
As databases get larger, the time for database backups to complete grows as well. Unfortunately, the time window for your backups may not increase. It could very well be the case that you reach a point where your backups will not finish in a specified amo
Monitor Your SQL Server Virtual Log Files with Policy Based Management
SQL Server splits your physical transaction log file into logical chucks, called virtual log files (VLF). While your transaction log file may look like one file, logically it is fragmented and the level of fragmentation can result in performance degradati
Import SQL Database Engine Policies with Policy Based Management
In this article learn how to import existing SQL Server Policies for an instance of SQL Server for use with Policy Based Management.
Monitor Your SQL Server Linked Server Configurations with Policy Based Management
Learn how to use SQL Server Policy Based Management to track configuration changes in your SQL Server Linked Servers.
Configuring SQL Agent Jobs to Write to Windows Event Log
SQL agent jobs are not created with notifications enabled by default. You have several options on the Notifications page; you could send an email, a page, a net send, write to the application event log, or you could delete the job.
When was SQL Server Database Restored, the Source and Backup Date
In this tip I will show you how you can identify the file(s) that was used for the SQL Server restore, when the backup actually occurred and when the database was restored.
Validate SQL Server Backups Exist with Policy Based Management
I recently submitted a tip regarding the existence of your backup files using the undocumented system stored procedure xp_fileexist. But how would you go about executing that script against all your SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 instances? I took t
Script to check that backup files still exist for SQL Server
You have configured your database backup jobs without any problems. The backups themselves seem to be working, but are the files still where you think they are? How do you know they have not been moved, or worse, deleted to free up some space on your serv
How to find out how long a SQL Server backup took
In this tip we look at scripts that can be used to see how long SQL Server backups took to complete.
When was the last time your SQL Server database was restored
Often times we are asked the question when was the last time my database was restored, and where was it restored from? In this tip, we will look at some of the system tables that capture restore history information and how you can query these system ta