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Generating On Demand Sequential Values in SQL Server

I recently had a business situation where I needed to generate a unique handle on groups of rows in my database. This handle (in reality, a grouping identifier) was to be used to logically lock these rows from further processing and to allow them to be

SQL Server Database Restore Verification Script

I have over night processes on a few different SQL Servers in my environment that are backup and restore related. I have used the scripts on MSSQLTips.com to check if the SQL Server Agent Jobs Job Steps have run as well as the backup verification code.

If it is on the Internet, it must be true

Among many other things, the Internet is a great resource and has revolutionized many things including troubleshooting SQL Server issues. Based on my observations, more often than not, when a SQL Server issue occurs DBAs, Developers or Network Administra

SQL Server DBA Interview Questions Part 3

In the third part of the SQL Server Administration interview series we will outline questions suitable for a DBA interview to assess the candidates skills. These questions primarily relate to database backups, internal database storage, index rebuilds and

Handling truncated leading spaces in Reporting Services

When attempting to display hierarchical data in Reporting Services by using additional spaces, the web browser truncates the additional leading spaces and all data becomes left justified with all of the indentation removed. This is because, like or not,

SQL Server Backup Plan

In a previous tip we discussed 10 items that should be addressed to manage your SQL Server environment. These items included; backups, security, disaster recovery, etc... The first item on the list was to address and implement a sound backup strategy. T

Assigning DBA Rights in SQL Server

As a DBA you have the responsibility to ensure the security for the application and users related to the SQL Servers that you manage. But what are the security principals that you follow for the administrators? Are there any hard and fast rules that mus

SQL Server DBA Interview Questions Part 2

In the second part of the SQL Server Administration interview series we will outline questions suitable for a DBA interview to assess the candidates skills. These questions relate to system objects, database recovery models and recovery processes page ve

SQL Server 2005 Database Mirroring Primer

In an earlier tip (Login failures connecting to new principal after failover using Database Mirroring) you mentioned using Database Mirroring as one of the native SQL Server high availability disaster recovery fault tolerant solutions. I am interested in

SQL Server DBA Interview Questions Part 1

Finding DBAs is difficult, then properly interviewing a DBA to assess their skills is even more of a challenge. This situation gets compounded when the interviewer does not fully understand the technology at a low level, but needs to find the right techn

SQL Server Agent Job Ownership

I am making a number of SQL Server security changes at the server and database level all at once, which is a problem in and of itself. I will be changing SQL Server service accounts, removing rights to BUILTIN Administrators group, limiting specific user

Missing SQL Server Agent History

SQL Server Agent is a useful tool to allow you to schedule reoccurring jobs to run on your server. Most of these jobs are usually maintenance type jobs or data loads, but this tool can be used to run any T-SQL code or even execute programs external to SQ