Policy Based Management

SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups is a disaster-recovery solution that was introduced in SQL Server 2012. There is a great AlwaysOn Dashboard available in SQL Server Management Studio that allows you to monitor Availability Groups, but we do not hav

There are several recommendations for creating multiple filegroups. One of the recommendations is to put nonclustered indexes in a separate filegroup. Indexes may not always be created in the correct filegroup and we show how to find these using this tip.

To meet our database configuration standards we want to make sure that we have only one database transaction log file and more than one data file. In this tip we look at how this can be done using a policy.

We need to exclude SQL Server database files from Antivirus and Third Party Backup Software (to make sure that files are not accessed directly). In this tip we look at how can we be sure that all of our SQL Server file extensions are using the standard fi

In SQL Server, the built in conditions and policies are a great place to get started with monitoring your environment, but there are no facets for some aspects of SQL Server I want to monitor. How can I check on my environment using Policy Based Manageme

In a previous tip, Brady Upton explains to create a SharePoint KPI that will display SQL Server versions. In this tip we will show how to check SQL Server versions on multiple instances using Policy Based Management.

We decided to create a Policy to check for expired certificates within our SQL Server instance. Once we created the policy and ran it we noticed that some of the internal SQL certificates were expired. We weren't sure if this was an issue or not, so we

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

In many environments you may want to enforce specific database naming conventions. For example, you may want to prevent others from naming their databases using special characters like dash or period. These and other poor naming decisions can wreak havoc

I need to monitor all the SQL Agents to find out if a job failed in the last 24 hours. Could this be done with policy based management? If so, can you show me how to create the policy?

In SQL Server, indexes can be a double-edged sword. Sure, they can make queries run faster, but at the same time, their maintenance can have a negative impact. You can improve your server's overall performance by only maintaining useful indexes - but find

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

There is an easy way to quickly enable transactional log file growth for all the databases in SQL Server 2008. In this tip we cover the step by step process for setting up a policy to enable transactional log file growth for all the databases using Policy

There is an easy way to quickly enable data file growth for all the databases in SQL Server 2008. In this tip we cover the step by step process for setting up a policy to Enable Data File Growth for all user databases using Policy Based Management.

As the DBA, you need to determine if there are any databases in your production environment which have not had a full backup in the last 24 hours. In this tip we cover the step by step process for setting up a policy to identify all the databases which ar

I have created several policies using Policy-Based Management and need to rename some of them. I don’t see an option in the GUI to rename a Policy. In this tip we cover how this can be done.

There seems to be a lot of confusion around the Mandate Database option when managing categories in Policy-Based Management. In this tip I will show you how you can take advantage of the Mandate Database option to allow database owners to subscribe to onl

You need to periodically ascertain if there are any databases in your production environment which are not in SQL Server 2008 Compatibility Level. In this tip we cover the step by step process for setting up a policy to identify databases that are not in

We have a fairly active development SQL Server with databases getting created or restored quite frequently. There are certain settings we wish to enforce, but none of us want to walk through each database by hand to determine if the databases are meeting

You need to periodically ascertain if there are any databases in your production environment which are not using the Full Recovery Model. In this tip we cover the step by step process for setting up a policy to identify databases that are not using full r

I have configured Policy-Based Management to enforce standards on my SQL Servers. This is fine for the policies where you can prevent the changes; however, many policies can only be logged and not prevented. How can I receive notifications when the polici

SQL Server 2008 introduced Policy-Based Management (PBM), a way to centralize checking the compliance of policies that you can dictate. Unfortunately the facets and conditions that ship out of the box will not always cover the scenario(s) you are interest

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

In this article learn how to import existing SQL Server Policies for an instance of SQL Server for use with Policy Based Management.