Year: 2024

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Boost Your SQL Server Performance with Expert Guidance! In this video, Steve Stedman from Stedman Solutions introduces his comprehensive SQL Server Performance Tuning course. Learn essential techniques to optimize your SQL Server, enhance query performance, and ensure efficient database management. Perfect for DBAs and IT professionals, this course covers everything from indexing strategies to performance monitoring. Enroll today and transform your SQL Server skills: https://stedman.us/performance-class. Watch this video by Steve Stedman to find out more. For additional informative videos, visit …

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UPDLOCK Hint in SQL Queries: Reasons to Avoid and Best Practices The UPDLOCK hint in SQL Server is used to indicate that the lock obtained on the selected rows is to be held until the end of the transaction. This lock ensures that no other transaction can obtain an exclusive lock on the rows while the transaction is in progress. Essentially, it upgrades a shared lock to an update lock, which is a precursor to an exclusive lock. Why UPDLOCK …

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As we cross the midpoint of July, it’s time to shift our focus onto the life force of our digital existence – our databases! Being the founder of Database Health and Stedman Solutions, it brings me immense joy to pronounce July as Database Health Monitor Month! This is our yearly chance to acknowledge our largely invisible data protectors, and to plunge into the heart of our systems, rich with intricate data structures and complex relations. The moment has arrived for …

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Discover Stedman Solutions: Your Go-To for SQL Server Management In today’s data-driven world, managing your SQL Server environment efficiently and securely is crucial for any business. If you’ve never heard of Stedman Solutions, LLC before, this blog post will introduce you to what we do and explain why we are the best choice for your SQL Server needs. Customer Challenges and Why Stedman Solutions Managing SQL Servers comes with several challenges, including: Staffing Challenges: IT managers often lack DBA knowledge, …

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SQL Server Corruption Class – Learn How to Prepare and React Course Link In this video, we introduce our comprehensive SQL Server Corruption class designed to help you prepare your SQL Server environment to reduce the impact of corruption and react effectively if corruption strikes. What is Database Corruption? Corruption in a SQL database occurs when the database becomes damaged or corrupted, making it inaccessible. Causes can range from hardware failures and software bugs to human error. This can lead …

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NOLOCK Hint in SQL Queries: Myths, Misconceptions, and Best Practices In the world of SQL Server, the NOLOCK hint often generates spirited debates among database professionals. This hint is frequently used but equally misunderstood. In this blog post, we’ll explore what the NOLOCK hint does, dispel some common myths and misconceptions, and provide best practices for its use. Understanding the NOLOCK Hint The NOLOCK hint allows SQL Server to perform a dirty read, which means it can read data that …

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Why are there so many backup messages in my sql server logs? SQL Server logs contain a wealth of information about the server’s operation, including details about backup operations. This data can be quite helpful for various administrative tasks like troubleshooting, audit, performance tuning, or recovery. The reason why you see many backup messages in your SQL Server logs is because every time a backup or restore operation occurs, an entry is made in the SQL Server error log and …

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When working with data in SQL Server, there may be times when you need to remove leading zeros from a string. This task can be particularly common when dealing with numerical data stored as strings, such as ZIP codes, product codes, or other formatted numbers. In this blog post, we’ll explore several methods to remove leading zeros in SQL Server. Method 1: Using CAST and CONVERT Functions One straightforward way to remove leading zeros is to convert the string to …

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Shrinking a database can seem like a helpful way to save space and resources, particularly if a database has grown substantially over time. However, SQL Server’s default maintenance plans that include database shrinking can lead to several performance issues. Here’s why: Fragmentation: When a database is shrunk, the data pages are reorganized to create a contiguous block of free space at the end of the data file, which can cause severe fragmentation. This fragmentation can significantly degrade the performance of …

Database Health Quickscan – Default maintenance plans to shrink database – Ouch Read more »

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Welcome to July – a month that signifies a shift in focus to the unseen heroes of our digital infrastructure – our databases. As the founder of Database Health and Stedman Solutions, it is with great pleasure that I announce this month as Database Health Monitor Month! This annual event allows us to appreciate our precious data, explore the intricacies of our systems, and focus on enhancing the health of our databases. This July, let’s not merely keep our databases …

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