MSSQLTips - Latest SQL Server Tips

Best Practices � When Using FILESTREAM Feature of SQL Server 2008

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

In SQL Server 2008 one can store BLOBs (e.g. Images, video, Word, Excel, PDF, MP3, etc) in the NTFS file system rather than in a database file. This can be done by using the new FILESTREAM feature which was introduced in SQL Server 2008. In this tip we will take a look at some of the best practices which a database administrator can follow to get the best performance when using the FILESTREAM feature of SQL Server 2008.

Moving your database to the cloud with SQL Azure - Part 1

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

There has been lots of buzz about cloud computing lately and looking at the benefits it provides (in terms of cost savings, high availability, scalability (scale up/down) etc.) it is now evident that cloud computing is the future for next generation applications. In this tip series, I am going to show how you can start creating databases and database objects on the cloud with SQL Azure.

How to read SQL Server graphical query execution plans

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

In the previous tip in this series, I gave you an initial look into how to launch and read a graphical query execution plan. We're going to dive deeper into the different opportunities for information sources within the graphical execution plan itself. Yes, you read that right. There are other sources of information in the graphical execution plan that are not readily apparent at first blush. This tip will focus on Tooltips and the next on the Properties window.

Introduction to the Database Engine Tuning Advisor (DTA) for Performance Tuning

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

I have identified one production database in particular where the business users are constantly complaining about slow performance. I would like to focus strictly on identifying and mitigating issues related to query performance in that database. What's the best tool to analyze a workload and identify improvements? In this tip we look at how to use the Database Engine Tuning Advisor (DTA) to identify performance issues and resolutions.

Customizing the Status Bar for Each SSMS Connection

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Almost every DBA has to manage more than one instance of SQL Server. If you are administering production, test and development servers then there are probably databases with similar names and structures in each of these instances. The scenario becomes more complicated when you are working with multiple logins in each instance at the same time. Chances increase to run a script on an instance other than on which it was intended to run. Although every query pane in SSMS includes information such as server instance and user this information is not always displayed prominently. In this tip, I will show an option in SSMS 2008 to easily identify each instance.