SQL Server Citation - SQL Blog by Hemantgiri S. Goswami, SQL MVP

How to collect cluster Information using TSQL

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:37:00 PDT

Sometime back I was involved in a project which was to collect information for the servers we are supporting – creating inventory of servers. Logging into each server and collecting information is bit tedious when you have hundreds of server in your environment. I have spent sometime and created a script that does this work for me, however, I still need to connect to the server – but using SSMS/Query Window and execute the script. And then the script will provide me the details I needed.
This inventory should have details like below for cluster and stand alone instances:
Server Name
OS Name
OS Edition
OS Patch Level
SQL Server IP
Is Clustered
Node1_Name
Node1_IP
Node2_Name
Node2_IP
SQL Server Edition
SQL Server Patch Level
Server Time Zone
SQL Server Version
SQL Server Platform
Processor Core
Physical Memory
Service Account Name
Domain
Looks good ? Below is the version 1 of this script.

/*
IP address portion using : http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic150196-8-1.aspx
REMOVE sp_configure parameters if you are executing this script on SQL Server 2000

Created By : Hemantgiri S. Goswami | http://www.sql-server-citation.com
Date  : 24th March 2013
Version  : 1.0

Tested ON:
Windows Server  >> 2003, 2008, 2008 R2 
SQL Server  >> 2000, 2005, 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 

*/
sp_configure 'show advanced options',1
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO
sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell',1
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO
DECLARE @TimeZone   NVARCHAR(100)
  ,@ProductVersion SYSNAME
  ,@PlatForm  SYSNAME
  ,@Windows_Version SYSNAME
  ,@Processors  SYSNAME
  ,@PhysicalMemory SYSNAME
  ,@ServiceAccount SYSNAME
  ,@IPAddress  SYSNAME
  ,@DOMAIN  SYSNAME
  ,@MachineType  SYSNAME
  ,@SQLServerIP  VARCHAR(255)
  ,@CMD   VARCHAR(100)
  ,@Node1   VARCHAR(100)
  ,@Node2   VARCHAR(100)
  ,@Node1IP  VARCHAR(100)
  ,@Node2IP  VARCHAR(100)
  ,@OSEdition  VARCHAR(100)
  ,@OSVersion  VARCHAR(100)
  ,@OSName  VARCHAR(100)
  ,@OSPatchLevel  VARCHAR(100)
   
CREATE TABLE #TempTable
 (
  [Index] VARCHAR(2000),
  [Name] VARCHAR(2000),
  [Internal_Value] VARCHAR(2000),
  [Character_Value] VARCHAR(2000)
 ) ;

INSERT INTO #TempTable
EXEC xp_msver;

-- Replace @Value_Name to N'TimeZoneKeyName' when running on Windows 2008 
EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation',
       @value_name   = N'StandardName', 
       @value        = @TimeZone output

EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSSQLServer',
       @value_name   = N'ObjectName', 
       @value        = @ServiceAccount output

EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ProductOptions',
       @value_name   = N'ProductType', 
       @value        = @MachineType output

EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters',
       @value_name   = N'Domain', 
       @value        = @DOMAIN output
       
EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'CLUSTER\NODES\1',
       @value_name   = N'NodeName', 
       @value        = @Node1 output
       
EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'CLUSTER\NODES\2',
       @value_name   = N'NodeName', 
       @value        = @Node2 output              

EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion',
       @value_name   = N'ProductName', 
       @value        = @OSName output              
       
create table #OSEdition (VALUe varchar(255),OSEdition varchar(255), data varchar(100)) 
insert into #OSEdition 
EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ProductOptions',
       @value_name   = N'ProductSuite'  
SET @OSEdition = (SELECT TOP 1 OSedition  FROM #OsEdition)       
               
EXEC   master.dbo.xp_regread
       @rootkey      = N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
       @key          = N'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion',
       @value_name   = N'CSDVersion', 
       @value        = @OSPatchLevel output  

set @cmd = 'ping ' + @Node1 
create table #Node1IP (grabfield varchar(255)) 
insert into #Node1IP exec master.dbo.xp_cmdshell @cmd 


set @cmd = 'ping ' + @Node2
create table #Node2IP (grabfield varchar(255)) 
insert into #Node2IP exec master.dbo.xp_cmdshell @cmd 
 
set @cmd = 'ping ' + @@servername
create table #SQLServerIP (grabfield varchar(255)) 
insert into #SQLServerIP exec master.dbo.xp_cmdshell @cmd 

SET  @SQLServerIP=( 
      SELECT substring(grabfield,  charindex('[',grabfield)+1, charindex(']',grabfield)-charindex('[',grabfield)-1) 
      from #SQLServerIP  where left(grabfield,7) = 'Pinging' 
    )
SET  @Node1IP    =(
       SELECT substring(grabfield,  charindex('[',grabfield)+1, charindex(']',grabfield)-charindex('[',grabfield)-1) 
       from #Node1IP  where left(grabfield,7) = 'Pinging' 
     )
       
SET  @Node2IP  =( 
       SELECT substring(grabfield,  charindex('[',grabfield)+1, charindex(']',grabfield)-charindex('[',grabfield)-1) 
       from #Node2IP  where left(grabfield,7) = 'Pinging' 
    )
       
SET  @ProductVersion = (SELECT Character_Value from #TempTable where [INDEX]=2)
SET  @Platform  = (SELECT Character_Value from #TempTable where [INDEX]=4)
SET  @Windows_Version= (SELECT Character_Value from #TempTable where [INDEX]=15)
SET  @Processors  = (SELECT Character_Value from #TempTable where [INDEX]=16)
SET  @PhysicalMemory = (SELECT Character_Value from #TempTable where [INDEX]=19)


SELECT 
  ServerName   = @@SERVERNAME  
 ,OSName    = @OSName
 ,OSEdition   = @OSEdition
 ,OSPatchLevel          = @OSPatchLevel
 ,SQLServerIP          = @SQLServerIP
 ,IsClustered          = SERVERPROPERTY('IsClustered')
 ,Node1_Name   = @Node1
 ,Node1_IP   = @Node1IP 
 ,Node2_Name   = @Node2
 ,Node2_IP   = @Node2IP 
 ,SQLServerEdition         = SERVERPROPERTY('Edition')
 ,SQLServerLevel          = SERVERPROPERTY('ProductLevel')  
 ,ServerTimeZone          = @TimeZone 
 ,SQLServerVersion         = @ProductVersion
 ,SQLServerPlatform         = @PlatForm
 ,ProcessorCore          = @Processors
 ,PhysicalMemory          = @PhysicalMemory 
 ,ServiceAccountName         = @ServiceAccount 
 ,WKS_Server   = @MachineType
 ,Domain    = @DOMAIN
 
GO 
DROP TABLE #Node1IP
DROP TABLE #NODE2IP
DROP TABLE #SQLServerIP
DROP TABLE #TempTable
DROP TABLE #OSEdition 
GO


sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell',0
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO
sp_configure 'show advanced options',0
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO

Please do post back your feed back for this script, I will try my best to update and post back new version for this script.
- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

photo credit: Skimaniac via photopin cc

SQL Server – Generate Calendar using TSQL

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:35:00 PDT

Introduction
Recently, I was asked to develop a SSRS based report for the Event Management module in MS Dynamics CRM 2011. The idea was to show a Calendar for the selected month and each cell of the calendar should display the scheduled events of that day.
Showing the events in the required format in each cell was not a big issue. The main challenge was to generate a dynamic grid of Calendar. Luckily, the CRM was deployed on-premises and I got a chance to use TSQL to generate the Calendar.
Implementation
Below is the TSQL which I came up with to generate the Calendar -

DECLARE @Month AS INT = 4 --Set the MONTH for which you want to generate the Calendar.
DECLARE @Year AS INT = 2013 --Set the YEAR for which you want to generate the Calendar.
--Find and set the Start & End Date of the said Month-Year
DECLARE @StartDate AS DATETIME = CONVERT(VARCHAR, @Year) + RIGHT('0' + CONVERT(VARCHAR, @Month), 2) + '01'
DECLARE @EndDate AS DATETIME = DATEADD(DAY, - 1, DATEADD(MONTH, 1, @StartDate));

WITH Dates
AS (
 SELECT @StartDate Dt
 
 UNION ALL
 
 SELECT DATEADD(DAY, 1, Dt)
 FROM Dates
 WHERE DATEADD(DAY, 1, Dt) <= @EndDate
 ),
Details
AS (
 SELECT DAY(Dt) CDay,
  DATEPART(WK, Dt) CWeek,
  MONTH(Dt) CMonth,
  YEAR(Dt) CYear,
  DATENAME(WEEKDAY, Dt) DOW,
  Dt
 FROM Dates
 )
--Selecting the Final Calendar
SELECT Sunday,
 Monday,
 Tuesday,
 Wednesday,
 Thursday,
 Friday,
 Saturday
FROM (
 SELECT CWeek,
  DOW,
  CDay
 FROM Details
 ) D
PIVOT(MIN(CDay) FOR DOW IN (
   Sunday,
   Monday,
   Tuesday,
   Wednesday,
   Thursday,
   Friday,
   Saturday
   )) AS PVT
ORDER BY CWeek

Output:

Hope, this will help!

SQL Server – Generating PERMUTATIONS using T-Sql

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 03:10:00 PDT

Were you ever asked to generate string Permutations using TSql? I was recently asked to do so, and the logic which I could manage to come up at that point is shared in the below script.

DECLARE @Value AS VARCHAR(20) = 'ABCC' --Mention the text which is to be permuted
DECLARE @NoOfChars AS INT = LEN(@Value)
DECLARE @Permutations TABLE (Value VARCHAR(20)) --Make sure the size of this Value is equal to your input  string length (@Value)
 ;

WITH NumTally
AS (
 --Prepare the Tally Table to separate each character of the Value.
 SELECT 1 Num
 
 UNION ALL
 
 SELECT Num + 1
 FROM NumTally
 WHERE Num < @NoOfChars
 ),
Chars
AS (
 --Separate the Characters
 SELECT Num,
  SUBSTRING(@Value, Num, 1) Chr
 FROM NumTally
 )
--Persist the Separated characters.
INSERT INTO @Permutations
SELECT Chr
FROM Chars

--Prepare Permutations
DECLARE @i AS INT = 1

WHILE (@i < @NoOfChars)
BEGIN
 --Store the Permutations
 INSERT INTO @Permutations
 SELECT DISTINCT --Add DISTINCT if required else duplicate Permutations will be generated for Repeated  Chars.
  P1.Value + P2.Value
 FROM (
  SELECT Value
  FROM @Permutations
  WHERE LEN(Value) = @i
  ) P1
 CROSS JOIN (
  SELECT Value
  FROM @Permutations
  WHERE LEN(Value) = 1
  ) P2

 --Increment the Counter.      
 SET @i += 1

 --Delete the Incorrect Lengthed Permutations to keep the table size under control.
 DELETE
 FROM @Permutations
 WHERE LEN(Value) NOT IN (
   1,
   @i
   )
END

--Delete InCorrect Permutations.
SET @i = 1

WHILE (@i <= @NoOfChars)
BEGIN
 --Deleting Permutations which has not used "All the Chars of the given Value".
 DELETE
 FROM @Permutations
 WHERE Value NOT LIKE '%' + SUBSTRING(@Value, @i, 1) + '%'

 --Deleting Permutations which have repeated incorrect character.  
 DELETE
 FROM @Permutations
 WHERE LEN(Value) - LEN(REPLACE(Value, SUBSTRING(@Value, @i, 1), '')) != LEN(@Value) - LEN(REPLACE(@Value, SUBSTRING(@Value, @i, 1), ''))

 SET @i += 1
END

--Selecting the generated Permutations. 
SELECT Value
FROM @Permutations

Hope, this script helps!

Please share your suggestions if you have any to improve this logic.

SQL Server – TSql to find Records matching certain criteria in all the tables of a DB.

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:46:00 PST

Generally, we try to find out records matching a certain criteria from a single or few tables. However, there are times when we need to find out records matching a criteria from all the tables of a SQL Database and today I will explain you a simple way to retrieve those records.
Recently, I was asked by my colleague, who was working on a MS Dynamics CRM migration project, to let him know the records which were created after a particular date in the source. So that, he could analyze only those records and strategize the Migration process.
I quickly opened up the SSMS and came up with the below script -

USE < DBName > --Replace this with the actual DBName
GO

DECLARE @ColumnName AS VARCHAR(50) = 'CreatedOn' --The name of the column on which you need to put the criteria
DECLARE @Criteria AS VARCHAR(50) = 'CONVERT(DATE,' + @ColumnName + ') >= ''20130225''' -- The Actual criteria/WHERE Clause of the query

--The below will list the TSQL Statements which could be copied & executed in a separate query window.
SELECT 'IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM ' + T.NAME + ' WHERE ' + @Criteria + ') ' + 'SELECT ''' + T.NAME + ''' TableName, * FROM ' + T.NAME + ' WHERE ' + @Criteria
FROM sys.columns C
INNER JOIN sys.tables T
 ON T.object_id = C.object_id
WHERE C.NAME = @ColumnName

The above script will list down the SELECT statements which could be copied and executed in a separate query window connecting to the same Database. On execution, you will get the list of records from each table base on the specified criteria.

Hope, this helps!

SQL Server # Moving MASTER database in cluster environment

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 19:33:00 PST

Few months back I have wrote post about moving MASTER and MSDB database to new location in stand alone machine.

In recent past we had a situation where customer asked us to move MASTER database to new location, below are the steps I have taken:

Connect to the Server
Open Configuration Manager -> SQL Server Service
Right Click and say Properties
Click on the Start-up Parameter
Remove start-up parameter (the highlighted one)

	 -dOLDLocation\master.mdf
	 -eOLDLocation\ErrorLog
	 -lOLDLocation\mastlog.ldf

6. Add new start-up parameters with new values (per your configuration)

	 -dNewLocation\master.mdf
	 -eNewLocation\ErrorLog
	 -lNewLocation\mastlog.ldf

      7.    Check and confirm which node is active

      8.    PAUSE current PASSIVE Node to avoid fail-over

      9.    Take SQL Server resources offline, i.e. SQL Server, SQL Agent, MSDTC, SQLCLUSTER Name (do not take SQL Cluster IP Offline)

    10.    Copy MASTER.MDF and MASTLOG.LDF to NEW Location ( S:\SQLDATA, yours could be different)

    11.    Log into Cluster Administrator and bring SQL Server Resources online

    12.    Resume current PASSIVE Node

That's all, you should be able to see your master database on new location now!!!

-- Regards,

Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

Cross posting: http://www.pythian.com/news/35829/moving-master-database-to-new-location-in-sql-cluster/

SQL Server Database Backup Report using T-SQL

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 23:04:00 PDT

Today, I am going to share few very useful scripts which will report us on Database Backup from different view points. To get the List/History/Log of all the Successful Backups

SELECT 

  b.machine_name,

  b.server_name,

  b.database_name as DBName,

  b.backup_start_date,

  b.backup_finish_date,

  CASE 

    WHEN b.[type] = 'D' THEN 'Database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'I' THEN 'Differential database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'L' THEN 'Log'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'F' THEN 'File or filegroup'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'G' THEN 'Differential file'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'P' THEN 'Partial'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'Q' THEN 'Differential partial'

    ELSE b.[type]

  END Backup_Type,    

  b.expiration_date,

  b.[user_name],

  DATEDIFF(MINUTE,b.backup_start_date ,b.backup_finish_date) as Total_Time_in_Minute,

  b.recovery_model,

  b.backup_size/(1024 * 1024 * 1024) as Total_Size_GB,

  bf.physical_device_name as Location

FROM 

  msdb.dbo.backupset AS b

INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily AS bf

  ON b.media_set_id=bf.media_set_id

ORDER BY 

  b.backup_start_date DESC

GO

To get a list of all successful Backups taken till date for a particular Database

DECLARE @DBName AS VARCHAR(100) = 'Your Database Name'
SELECT 

  b.machine_name,

  b.server_name,

  b.database_name as DBName,

  b.backup_start_date,

  b.backup_finish_date,

  CASE 

    WHEN b.[type] = 'D' THEN 'Database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'I' THEN 'Differential database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'L' THEN 'Log'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'F' THEN 'File or filegroup'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'G' THEN 'Differential file'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'P' THEN 'Partial'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'Q' THEN 'Differential partial'

    ELSE b.[type]

  END Backup_Type,

  b.expiration_date,

  b.[user_name],

  DATEDIFF(MINUTE,b.backup_start_date ,b.backup_finish_date) as Total_Time_in_Minute,

  b.recovery_model,

  b.backup_size/(1024 * 1024 * 1024) as Total_Size_GB,

  bf.physical_device_name as Location

FROM 

  msdb.dbo.backupset AS b

INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily AS bf

  ON b.media_set_id=bf.media_set_id

WHERE

  b.database_name = @DBName  

ORDER BY 

  b.backup_start_date DESC

GO

To get the List of all Databases which are not backed up till date

SELECT

  d.name [DB_Name]

FROM

  master.sys.databases d

LEFT JOIN msdb.dbo.backupset b

  ON b.database_name = d.name

WHERE

  d.database_id IS NULL

To get the List of all Databases which are not backed up since last X days

DECLARE @LastXDays AS INT = 1

;WITH LatestBackupSet AS (

SELECT 

  b.database_name as DBName,

  b.backup_start_date LastBackedUpOn,

  b.[user_name],

  ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY b.database_name ORDER BY b.backup_start_date DESC) Rnk

FROM 

  msdb.dbo.backupset AS b

)

SELECT 

  lbs.DBName,

  lbs.LastBackedUpOn,

  lbs.[user_name]

FROM 

  LatestBackupSet AS lbs

WHERE

  DATEDIFF(DAY,lbs.LastBackedUpOn ,CURRENT_TIMESTAMP) = @LastXDays  

  AND lbs.Rnk = 1

ORDER BY 

  lbs.DBName DESC

GO

To get a list of the Latest successful backups of all Databases

;WITH LatestBackupSet AS (

SELECT 

  b.machine_name,

  b.server_name,

  b.database_name as DBName,

  b.backup_start_date,

  b.backup_finish_date,

  CASE 

    WHEN b.[type] = 'D' THEN 'Database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'I' THEN 'Differential database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'L' THEN 'Log'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'F' THEN 'File or filegroup'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'G' THEN 'Differential file'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'P' THEN 'Partial'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'Q' THEN 'Differential partial'

    ELSE b.[type]

  END Backup_Type,

  b.expiration_date,

  b.[user_name],

  DATEDIFF(MINUTE,b.backup_start_date ,b.backup_finish_date) as Total_Time_in_Minute,

  b.recovery_model,

  b.backup_size/(1024 * 1024 * 1024) as Total_Size_GB,

  bf.physical_device_name as Location,

  ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY b.database_name ORDER BY b.backup_start_date DESC) Rnk

FROM 

  msdb.dbo.backupset AS b

INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily AS bf

  ON b.media_set_id=bf.media_set_id

)

SELECT 

  machine_name,

  server_name,

  DBName,

  backup_start_date,

  backup_finish_date,

  Backup_Type,

  expiration_date,

  [user_name],

  Total_Time_in_Minute,

  recovery_model,

  Total_Size_GB,

  Location

FROM 

  LatestBackupSet AS lbs

WHERE

  lbs.Rnk = 1

ORDER BY 

  lbs.DBName DESC

GO

To get the Latest successful backup of a particular Database

DECLARE @DBName AS VARCHAR(100) = 'Your Database Name'

 

;WITH LatestBackupSet AS (

SELECT 

  b.machine_name,

  b.server_name,

  b.database_name as DBName,

  b.backup_start_date,

  b.backup_finish_date,

  CASE 

    WHEN b.[type] = 'D' THEN 'Database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'I' THEN 'Differential database'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'L' THEN 'Log'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'F' THEN 'File or filegroup'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'G' THEN 'Differential file'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'P' THEN 'Partial'

    WHEN b.[type] = 'Q' THEN 'Differential partial'

    ELSE b.[type]

  END Backup_Type,

  b.expiration_date,

  b.[user_name],

  DATEDIFF(MINUTE,b.backup_start_date ,b.backup_finish_date) as Total_Time_in_Minute,

  b.recovery_model,

  b.backup_size/(1024 * 1024 * 1024) as Total_Size_GB,

  bf.physical_device_name as Location,

  ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY b.database_name ORDER BY b.backup_start_date DESC) Rnk

FROM 

  msdb.dbo.backupset AS b

INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily AS bf

  ON b.media_set_id=bf.media_set_id

WHERE

  b.database_name = @DBName  

)

SELECT 

  machine_name,

  server_name,

  DBName,

  backup_start_date,

  backup_finish_date,

  Backup_Type,

  expiration_date,

  [user_name],

  Total_Time_in_Minute,

  recovery_model,

  Total_Size_GB,

  Location

FROM 

  LatestBackupSet AS lbs

WHERE

  lbs.Rnk = 1

ORDER BY 

  lbs.DBName DESC

GO

To get a list of Databases that were backed-up and do not currently exist

SELECT

  DISTINCT b.database_name

FROM

  msdb.dbo.backupset b

WHERE

  DB_ID(b.database_name) IS NULL

Hope, the above given script will be of help to you. Also, I would like to request you to please add any relevant script which you feel would be useful as a comment.

SQL Server # TSQL to Convert STRING in PROPER format

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 23:14:00 PDT

Problem Statement

SQL Server has got in-built functions to convert the given string into LOWER() or UPPER() format but it does not provides any direct way to convert it to PROPER format. A string/text is said to be in a PROPER format if all the words in that string/text starts with a CAPITAL letter.

E.g. If a string is - “Hello, how are you?”,

String in Lower format = “hello, how are you?”

String in Upper format = “HELLO, HOW ARE YOU?”

and String in Proper format = “Hello, How Are You?”

Implementation

Ideally, SQL Server is not the right place to implement this kind of logic, as string operations are costlier in SQL from performance perspective. it should be either implemented in the Front-End language or the Reporting Tool as this more related to the formatting. However, if this is to be implemented in SQL, the more preferred way is to use SQL-CLR function. It does not mean that we can not achieve this with T-SQL.

Today, I will share a simple T-SQL function, which could be used to convert any given string in PROPER format. Below is the script -

     CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[PROPER]

    (

      @StrToConvertToProper AS VARCHAR(MAX)

    ) 

    RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX) 

    AS

    BEGIN

      --Trim the Text

      SET @StrToConvertToProper = LTRIM(RTRIM(@StrToConvertToProper))

      --Find the No. of Words in the Text

      DECLARE @WordCount AS INT

      SET @WordCount = LEN(@StrToConvertToProper) - LEN(REPLACE(@StrToConvertToProper,' ','')) + 1

      --Variable to track the space position

      DECLARE @LastSpacePosition AS INT = 0

      --Loop through all the words

      WHILE(@WordCount > 0)

        BEGIN

          --Set the Space Position

          SET @LastSpacePosition = CHARINDEX(' ',@StrToConvertToProper,@LastSpacePosition + 1)

          --Replace the Character

          SET @StrToConvertToProper = STUFF(@StrToConvertToProper,

                                            @LastSpacePosition + 1,

                                            1,

                                            UPPER(SUBSTRING(@StrToConvertToProper, @LastSpacePosition + 1, 1)))

          --Decrement the Loop counter                                      

          SET @WordCount = @WordCount - 1

        END

      RETURN @StrToConvertToProper

    END

When the above script is used as –

    SELECT dbo.PROPER('hello, how are you?')

we get the following result - Hello, How Are You?

Conclusion

The given script could be used to convert any string in PROPER format using T-SQL. However, I would personally prefer converting the string at the Front-End or in the Reporting tool to display the string in this format.

Troubleshooting Oracle Link Server - Part2

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 23:03:00 PDT

It's my bad that I did not made a post since long lately. I would not make an excuse like I was busy, rather, I would say I am little lazy DBA, but I now onward I will try to post blog more frequently.

Well, if you remember, earlier I have posted some tips about troubleshooting Link Server issue for Oracle, today I will be posting one more tip to the list aka extending Troubleshooting Oracle Link Server.

Few weeks back one of the developer reached out to me needing an assistance with Oracle Link Server. The issue with him was, whenever he execute T-SQL against Oracle Link Server, SQL Server was throwing an error at him which reads like OLE DB provider "OraOLEDB.Oracle" for linked server "XXXXXX" returned message "Cannot start more transactions on this session." I'd connected to the server using SSMS and have checked permissions, Link Server and Provider configuration - nothing was changed. Then what could have cause this error? well, I will need to RDP to the box then to find an answer.

But before that, as usual, upon questionnaire session, I came to know that developers doesn't have direct access to box and they all were using Citrix to connect to the SQL Server box hence they would not have any idea on what's going on with the physical box. As a DBA I had a privileges to RDP to the development box (obviously ), as soon as I logged in I'd notice that the box is running out of space. The drive which was running out of space was hosting:

User Profiles
TempDB
& UserDB which they were using for ETL purpose for Oracle

And, as expected, once I'd reclaim some space everything was back to normal.

Regards

Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

SQL Server # Storing Hierarchical Data – Parent Child n’th level # TSQL

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:04:00 PDT

Introduction

Today, I would like to explain one way in which we can store the HIERARCHICAL data in SQL tables. A general table structure which people come up to store this kind of data is -

Where, EmployeeID id the UniqueID alloted to every new employee record inserted into the table and ManagerID is the EmployeeID of the immediate manager of the employee. Keeping in mind that Manager is also an employee.

Problem Statement

This table structure very well serves the purpose as long as we have 1-Level hierarchy. However, if the hierarchy is of n'th level, the SELECT statement to fetch the records becomes more complex with this kind of table structure. Suppose, we want to fetch the complete TREE of a particular employee, i.e. list of all the employees who are directly or indirectly managed by a particular employee. How to do it……..?

Thanks to CTE’s for making the life a bit easier – as using them in a recursive manner, we can get the work done. Please follow this msdn link to see an implementation using recursive CTE.

Suggested Table Structure

Here, I have just included a new column [PATH]. It is of VARCHAR(MAX) type. I have taken it as VARCHAR(MAX) just to make sure the field is long enough to store the complete path. But one can assign appropriate size as per their system’s requirement.

The basic idea of the [path] column is to store the complete hierarchical path of any employee separated by a delimiter as under -

Calculating the new path is very simple. It’s just, {New Path} = {Parent Path} + {Self ID} + {Delimiter}

Now, suppose if I want to fetch all the employees who are directly or indirectly working under EmployeeID = 2, I can use the below tsql -

;WITH CTE AS (SELECT 1 EmployeeID,NULL ManagerID, '\1\' [Path]UNION ALL    SELECT 2 EmployeeID,1 ManagerID, '\1\2\' [Path]UNION ALL    SELECT 3 EmployeeID,1 ManagerID, '\1\3\' [Path]UNION ALL    SELECT 4 EmployeeID,2 ManagerID, '\1\2\4\' [Path]UNION ALL    SELECT 5 EmployeeID,4 ManagerID, '\1\2\4\5\' [Path])SELECT  *FROM  CTEWHERE  [Path] LIKE '%\2\%'

We can use a simple logic to even find out the level of the Employee -

SELECT  *,  (LEN([Path]) - LEN(REPLACE([Path],'\',''))) - 2 [Level]FROM  CTEWHERE  [Path] LIKE '%\2\%'

2 is subtracted from the formula as the length of delimiter for Level-0 is 2.

Conclusion

Hope, this simple trick could save a lot of time for the ones who find themselves lost playing with the hierarchical data.

Last Execution Date Time of a Stored Procedure

noreply@blogger.com (vinay pugalia) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:59:00 PDT

On many forums I have found a very basic yet important query - “How can I know when was my Stored Procedure last executed?” And today through this blog I will try to answer this question.
Actually speaking, without explicit logging or tracing, it is not possible to get this information for each and every Stored Procedure of our Database. However, we can get this detail along with many other relevant information for the stored procedure having it’s execution plan currently cached on the server by using - sys.dm_exec_procedure_stats It’s a system dynamic view that returns aggregate performance statistics for cached stored procedures.Please note that this view has been introduced from SQL Server 2008.
The important thing to note is that this view returns one row for each cached stored procedure plan, and the lifetime of the row is as long as the stored procedure remains cached. When a stored procedure is removed from the cache, the corresponding row is eliminated from this view.
So, let’s see a way, using which at least we can find out the some important facts for the cached stored procedures -

USE DBName
GO
SELECT 
 O.name,
 PS.last_execution_time
FROM 
 sys.dm_exec_procedure_stats PS 
INNER JOIN sys.objects O 
 ON O.[object_id] = PS.[object_id] 
GO

P.S. Please replace the DBName with the actual name of the Database.

The above script will return the name of all the cached stored procedure of the current database with their last execution time.

For more details on this dynamics view, please refer - sys.dm_exec_procedure_stats (Transact-SQL)

Moving MASTER Database

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:13:00 PST

In my previous post we see how to move MSDB database, today we will see how to move or relocate MASTER database. While moving MASTER database we’ll have to consider few other things like changing start-up parameter for SQL Server Service. I will also mention those stops here for better understanding. Let’s do it step-by-step.

Step 1: Query sys view and note down the existing location for MASTER database

USE MASTER 
GO 
SELECT 
NAME, 
PHYSICAL_NAME AS 'PhysicalFilePath', 
STATE_DESC AS 'DB Status' 
FROM SYS.MASTER_FILES 
WHERE NAME LIKE 'Mast%'

Step 2: Run alter database command and change the location for database files

ALTER DATABASE MASTER 
MODIFY FILE 
( 
NAME = MASTER, 
FILENAME= 'C:\SQLDB\Demo\Master.mdf' 
) 
GO 
ALTER DATABASE MASTER 
MODIFY FILE 
( 
NAME = MastLog, 
FILENAME= 'C:\SQLDB\Demo\MastLog.mdf' 
) 
GO

Step 3: Stop SQL Server Service and move database files to new location

Step 4: Restart SQL Server Service, surprised ?

Step 5: This was expected, let’s see what errorlog has to say about this!

Refer the highlighted section, SQL Server service could not find the files. This is because we have moved that files to new location.

Step 6: Okay, so let’s go and change the start-up parameter. We can do this using Configuration manager.

Step 7: Right click on SQL Server service –> Properties –> Start-up Parameter

Step 8: Make correction in path for Master.mdf and Master.ldf

Step 9: Start SQL Server service, this time it will start.

You are done!!

Note: This is to be done when we have to do relocate databases to new drive, or file organization, or some error which force us to do this.

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami

Moving MSDB to new location

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:54:00 PST

In recent past we have a situation where in we required to move MSDB, Model and Master databases to new location, the reason being faulty drive. While moving system databases to new location we need to be extra cautious. Let’s see the process step-by-step.

Step 1: Let’s query sys view and note down the location for database files

SELECT
NAME,
PHYSICAL_NAME AS 'PhysicalFilePath',
STATE_DESC AS 'DB Status'
FROM SYS.MASTER_FILES

Step 2: Run alter database and specify new location for database

SELECT
ALTER DATABASE MSDB
MODIFY FILE
(
NAME = MSDBData,
FILENAME= 'C:\SQLDB\Demo\MSDBData.mdf'
)
GO
ALTER DATABASE MSDB
MODIFY FILE
(
NAME = MSDBLog,
FILENAME= 'C:\SQLDB\Demo\MSDBLog.ldf'
)
GO

Step 3: Stop SQL Server service

Step 4: Once SQL Server service is stopped move MSDB database to new location
Step 5: Now, start SQL Server service. This time it will use the new path that we have configured in Step 2.
Note: If you have enabled and configure Database Mail, please make sure it works after you moved MSDB to new location.

Tomorrow, I will post about how to relocate Master database.

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com/)

Register for SQL Server 2012 Virtual Launch

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:34:00 PST

`As we all are aware SQL Server 2012 virtual launch is scheduled after 60 hours roughly. Earlier I have discussed what’s new in SQL Server 2012 setup, MS has released SQL Server 2012 training kit and made it available for us to download. In recent past, I have blogged about a free eBook for SQL Server 2012 written by Ross Mistry ( Blog | Twitter ) and Stacia Misner ( Blog | Twitter) .

You will see lots of new and insightful information on new and enhanced features introduced in SQL Server 2012, this includes:

AlwaysOn
Automating AlwaysOn management
New backup and restore capabilities
ColumnStore index
Semantic Search
User-defined server roles
Data quality service
StreamInsight for SQL Server 2012
Big data analytics and Hadoop
T-SQL Enhancements
SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)
SQL Azure

Sounds interesting ?

Get yourself register for the event, you will find the agenda of the event here.

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com/ )

Download free eBook for SQL Server 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:48:00 PST

Microsoft has released one more free eBook, this time it is on SQL Server 2012. However, this is the second draft of this book. SQL Server MVP Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner has covered Administration and BI part, there are 10 chapters in total divided in two part, they are:
PART I DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (by Ross Mistry)1. Denali Editions and Enhancements
2. High Availability and Disaster Recovery Enhancements
3. Scalability and Performance
4. Security Enhancements
5. Beyond Relational

PART II BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPMENT (by Stacia Misner)6. Integration Services
7. Data Quality Services
8. Master Data Services
9. Analysis Services and PowerPivot
10. Reporting Services

Want to read more and download an eBook for free ? Link –> Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012
For those who missed downloading eBook on SQL Server 2008, here is the link –> Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Update : 2nd March 2012, Table of Content was wrong, thank you Stacia Misner (@staciamisner) .

-Hemantgiri S Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

When DBCC INPUTBUFFER disappoints

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:44:00 PST

Today we have an alert from one of the client server about blocking, I have immediately start looking at it using below statement

 
SELECT * FROM 
MASTER..SYSPROCESSES
WHERE BLOCKED != 0

Yes, I’ve found the culprit SPID that is occupying more resources, using DBCC INPUTBUFFER(SPID). so, instead of seeing what exactly this SPID is doing I have received SP_EXECUTESQL, surprised!!! No, it’s bound to happen when SPID is running dynamic TSQL (using SP_EXECUTESQL) and/or cursor. But, yes, at the same time I would like to know what it is running behind the scene. There are two options that came to my mind

Using Profiler

using function – ::fn_get_sql(@SQLHandle)

I preferred to use 2nd option as this is one time effort (at least as of now), and, it would be very quick. So, here is what I have used

 

-- Variable that will store the SQLHandle
DECLARE @SQLHandle BINARY(20)

-- Variable that will pass on the culprit SPID
DECLARE @SPID INT

-- value for culprit SPID
SET @SPID = 52

-- this will give you the SQLHandle for the culprit SPID
SELECT @SQLHandle = SQL_HANDLE 
FROM MASTER..SYSPROCESSES 
WHERE SPID = @SPID  

-- this statement will give you the SQL Statement for culprit SPID
SELECT [TEXT] FROM ::FN_GET_SQL(@SQLHandle)

You must be thinking why I have used this function instead sys.dm_exec_sql_text? Any guess??
Yes, you are right, customer is still using SQL server 2000 {Winking smile}
BTW, if you happened to come across something relating but on SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008 and greater I have a reference script for you

Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP has written aba_lockinfo and a script a.k.a. Custom Blocker Report from Aaron_Bertrand.

--Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

Rebuild System Databases

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:00:00 PST

Yesterday night one of FB Friend have ping me, he has issue with his local SQL Server instance. Our conversation goes like:
FB Friend: Hi
I : Hi
FB Friend: I need your help
FB Friend : My SQL Server is not starting...
I : What is an error you are getting?
FB Friend : Just nothing
I : Ok, check the SQL Server Error Log and EventViewer
I : you can find errologs at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.DENALI\MSSQL\Log
I : open it with notepad ....
FB Friend: Ok
FB Friend: Cannot recover the master database. SQL Server is unable to run. Restore master from a full backup, repair it, or rebuild it. For more information about how to rebuild the master database, see SQL Server Books Online.
I : Wow, seems like your master database is corrupt, you will need to run repair or you may want to rebuild master database.
I : Is this a new installation ?
FB Friend : Yes, this is new installation, and, I don't want to re-run the installation again, what is my option ?
I : you will need to rebuild master or restore it
FB Friend: How do I do it?
I: Here are your steps

Rebuild Master:

Step 1: Insert your setup media CD or folder where you have dumped SQL Server Installation
Step 2: Open command prompt
Step 3: Go to location (wherever you have setup, Step 1)
Step 4: setup /ACTION=REBUILDDATABASE /QUIET /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLServer /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS=MyAdmin /SAPWD=somePwd

Step 5: this will pop up new command window and then disappears

Step 6: you will have to refer logs so as to see whether it was successful completed or exit with error

This is it, you system database has been rebuild successfully!!
Restoring Master Database - An alternative method:
Step 1: Take backup of master database, in your case, I assume, you already have your master database backed up.

Step 2: Stop SQL Server Services * you will need Administrator permission for this operation

Step 3: Start SQL Server using -C and -M parameter; this will start SQL Server in single user mode which is required to restore Master database

Step 4: Restore database using SQLCMD

This is it, you have successfully restore your master database!!!

Is it this simple? No, wait, there are few things we need to be careful with....

The above example have save you because below conditions are true:

You have back up of your master database, or
This server is fresh installation or
there are no user databases or
this server is not production box

If the above conditions were not true, you will have to perform below steps:

Restore / Rebuild system databases
Recreate all the Login that you have on your crashed server - backing up master db helps you here
you will have to recreate all the jobs and SSIS/DTS Packages that you have - backing up MSDB database will save you
similarly distribution database backup will help you if you have replication configured

Conclusion : I wish that you have schedule maintenance plan / job to take full backup of your system databases i.e. Master, MSDB, and Distribution(if you have configured replication).
Disclaimer : The example used here is for illustration purpose only.

Revamping SUG 2nd Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:02:00 PST

Friends,

Last Saturday, 21st we have 2nd meeting of SUG members and this time we made progress – I, Vinay and Matang was present in meeting .We have discussed following :

We have decided that portal management will be done by I, Vinay and Matang initially, here are the module that we’ll be adding content on:

Forums and Team section –> Hemantgiri S Goswami
Article Section –> Matang Panchal
Blog Section –> Vinay Pugalia

We’ll design and use common PPT theme during all our presentations
We’ll organize quize every quarter
From next meet, 1 member will make presentation of 15 minutes; starting with myself
We will try to accommodate as many as practical / self demos in initial (and, so on) events
We would also create PPT / Demo repository that we have used during event
Also, there will be a download section where we’ll share scripts/codes to download
We will open a bank account to manage the fund we’ll receive from Sponsors

See you in next meeting will be on 11th February 2012
Venue : 406, Empire State Building, Nr. Udhana Darwaja
Time : 7 PM

Image source: http://pmtips.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/meaningful-meetings.jpg

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

Roles and Responsibilty of SQL Server DBA

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:30:00 PST

What is a role of a DBA in an organization?
What are the daily activities of a DBA?
What shall I check on regular basis?
What all processes shall I automate ?
What are the precautions, I have to take additionally?

These are the common question being asked in-common on may forums, here is what my listing is

• Design and implement Disaster Recovery

• Design, development, upgrade and Migration of Database Server.

• Providing support and handling most critical situations in vast variety of database systems.

• Database Optimization / Query Performance Tuning.

• Design and implementation Automated Database & Application fail over server setup.

• Capacity Planning, Change Management and Admin. Documentation.

• Review of existing design and specifications of the system.

• Design and documentation of operational specifications of the system.

• Monitoring of the development process, in order to confirm optimum performance of the system.

• Preparation of standards and follow up rules for the back – end system, to ensure a fully secured and a robust system.

• Design and implementation of the logical & physical structure of the database.

• Monitoring of performance of database servers and providing tuning measures.

• Performing database / application wide query tuning operations.

Try automate every process that needs to be performed on daily basis and/or requires manual intervention.

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com)

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:19:00 PST

Wishing you all a very Happy and Prosperous new year, may success comes to your doorstep

Image source : Top CNN News

What’s new in SQL Server RC0 setup

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:18:00 PST

Datacentre Edition is no longer available as a MS SQL Server 2012 RC0 candidate, Read More
MS SQL Server 2012 RC0 includes new edition – SQL Server Business Intelligence, Read More
Service Pack 1 is the minimum requirement for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems, Read more
Data Quality Services can be installed using SQL Server 2012 RC0 Setup, Read more
Product update is the new feature available with MS SQL Server 2012 RC0, this will integrate latest update with main product including MS Update, WSUS, local folder or UNC. This feature is an extension to Slipstream Functionality which was available in SQL Server 2008 PCU1. We can use command prompt or configuration file to override default values to find updates by specifying values for UpdateSource parameter, Read more
We can now install MS SQL Server on Windows Server 2008 R2 Core SP1, not all features are supported though, Read more
SQL Server Data Tools (formerly, BIDS) is now part of setup, with this we can carry out all database design work, and can build solutions for SSAS, SSRS and SSIS. Read more
Now, Support for SQL Server multi-subnet clustering included, Read more
Databases (systems and users) can now be on UNC path, we may need to make sure that proper NTFS and File Share permissions are assigned, Read more
Local disk can be used for Tempdb in cluster, Read more
Built-in Administrator and Local system account will not be part of sysadmin role
Itanium editions are no longer supported

Revamping Surat User Group

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:31:00 PST

Dear Friends, we had a user group meeting last week – I and Vinay Pugalia was here. We have discussed many things to revamp and re-launch Surat User Group. Here are the minutes of meeting:

1) Regular Meetings -> Monthly, Proposed schedule :Saturday evening, 1900 to 2000

2) Regular Events -> 1 every 2 months, 1 workshop every quarter

3) Decide and form SUG Website, with Blog,Forums section, Facebook page and twitter handle

4) Press Notes after every event

5) Help from CSI Surat -> Have to meet, discuss and encourage Local IT professional to join and PARTICIPATE

6) Seminars/ Workshop :-free, TBS on weekends (Sat-Sun) to have discussion with Professional / Students

7) Different topics and technology, every time has 1 continue and 1 different topic

8) Initially we'll take session and then, we'll encourage others to take sessions and like that

9) Form Core Team & Backup Team

10) Role definition and Role assignment

11) Encourage new speaker to start with very basic topics to build their confidence

12) More Online activities etc.

13) Ask speakers to provide technology they can confidently speak

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

Maintenance Plan mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:22:00 PST

Last week I had interesting (or I can say weird ? ) case of Maintenance Plan. One of the server that we monitor has reported job failure – this was a part of maintenance plan. Looking at the job history and log file I came to know that this job was failing because of some database which wasn’t available – this database was dropped few days back, and, the maintenance plan has it’s reference stored somewhere. I have search around system tables etc. but nothing unusual or nothing helpful was available that indicates the source of this database.
Finally, I have edited the maintenance plan which resolved this case, here is what I did:

Alter the maintenance plan "some maintenance plan"

note down the databases name

altered it and selected all the system databases

saved the maintenance plan changes and exit

re-open the maintenance plan

re-selected those databases (from step 2)

saved the maintenance plan changes and exit

re-invoked the job

and, the job completed successfully

And, the mystery persist, can you guys suggest me if I miss something to refer/research ?

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

Using NOLOCK hint

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:28:00 PST

Use NOLOCK hint to avoid block - this is what I have often heard/see in many forums I participate, during local user group events and meeting. I have always advised that its not that good idea to use hints, as it may cause data corruption and blocking. And, anyways, there are many things that you can do to avoid blocking, like:

use sp for everything (almost)
try to avoid using cursor
transaction shouldn't be too big etc
and, use READPAST hint , I will still say, use this only when you don't have choice

But these all comes from the experience from the field and haven't anything concrete to quote as reference point until last night, I was googling something and this blog article from Dave, on MSDN Blog showed up. Now, I can quote SQL Server NOLOCK Hint and Other poor ideas as reference to my peers,and friends at local user group, and I am referencing it here for you to read and make a note.

I hope this helps.

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com/)

Download SQL Server 2008 SP3 CU2

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:56:00 PST

MS has recently released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update 2 Released‏ which has fixes reported after SQL Server 2008 SP 3, this build version is 10.00.5768.00.
Below are the bugs that have been fixed in this CU:

FIX: A backup operation on a SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 database fails if you enable change tracking on this database
FIX: CLR stored procedure returns NULL after it is recompiled in SQL Server 2008 R2
FIX: Access violation when you insert a record into a new empty partition in SQL Server 2008

There are few more things we have to keep in consideration while applying this CU:
Pre-install:
1) You should be running on SQL Server SP3, if you haven't installed SP3 for SQL Server here is the link from where you can obtain SP3, Link => http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968382
Post-install:
* It is advisable to reboot the system once CU is applied
Please make sure you test the CU in Dev/QA/UAT environment before you apply it in the PROD environment.
Here is the link from where you can download the SQL Server 2008 SP3 CU2, link => http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2633143/en-us

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )

Download SQL Server 2012 Developer Training Kit

noreply@blogger.com (Hemantgiri S. Goswami) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:13:00 PST

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2010 Developer Training Kit which includes :

Labs
Demos
and, Presentations

This kit will greatly help you learning Developer and BI Solutions.

One will require to have Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to install this kit. Once you have download the kit, launch the installer and it will ask you which lab, demos and presentations you want to include and install them based on your choice.

Sounds interesting? Grab it from the link

-- Hemantgiri S. Goswami (http://www.sql-server-citation.com )