Aussie SQL Server Bloggers

SQL Server curiously allows duplicate indexes to be created on a table with precisely identical definitions. There is absolutely zero benefit from this practise yet significant harm can result - including: Performance degradation from maintenance...

SQL 2005's db_dm_index_usage_stats DMV allows DBAs to analyse how often indexes are being used (or not used), including individual counts for seeks, scans & lookups on each index in your database. I was thrilled when I first saw this DMV as there...

Here's an update to the utility SP [usp_helpindexusagestats] I posted a few weeks back, in response to a comment from Mitch Wheat that he was receiving empty result sets, which could have occurred if the original version was run against a system with...

Millions of database backups are performed every day & night around the world, consuming mountains of disk space & generating massive levels of power consumption as enormous numbers of bytes are copied to disk, then to tape or other removable...

Here's an index analysis script I put together recently which combines output from sp_helpindex (also with included columns, which the regular sp_helpindex lacks) and the dm_db_index_usage_stats() DMV. I use this script primarily to identify which indexes...

Rob Farley recently blogged about an excellent idea for solving the annoying collation issues so many struggle with during updates, consolitations or server rebuilds. Currently SQL Server throws errors if tables are joined with columns that have incompatible...

Unfortunately for the SQL Server community, Ken Henderson passed away yesterday. Many will remember Ken for his "Gurus Guide" SQL Server books which are amongst the most highly regarded technical resources available. I had the privilege of working...

In my last post, I discussed a real world clustered index design problem which had far-reaching consequences on a high volume & profile website. In this post I'll discuss the problem in further detail & post the solution which solved the problem...

This post discusses a problem experienced last year on one of the highest profile websites in Australia which highlights how blindly following generic "best practises" can cause serious damage to real-world systems. Previously, in this series:Part...

I am disgusted that the Age, the Australian the Herald Sun (my local news rags) are all showing pictures of the Virginia College gunman pointing guns right at our faces. Unfortunately, many other news sources around the world are also probably...

The info below was posted to the SQL Server MVP discussion forum a couple of days ago by James Howey (from the MS SQL team) & has been approved for re-distribution. It covers some details on problems associated with SQL 2005 SP2 & details...

I just watched the PBS documentary "Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness" for the second time in a few months on TV tonight. Chiune Sugihara saved thousands of Jewish lives during WWII whilst serving as Japanese consul in Lithuania by issuing...

Peter, I hear you've been given Microsoft's MVP award for your work with SQL Server MVP - congratulations! I believe this now makes up 6 Aussie SQL MVPs.. (c: Cheers,Greg...

I seem to be having the same conversation over & over again recently with developers who believe that re-writing queries is the best way to improve performance. Maybe I'm just obsessing about this topic a little at the moment, but I think the...

Paul Nielsen has pointed out a couple of interesting deficiencies in the relational model on his blog: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/paul_nielsen/archive/2006/12/18/430.aspx...

Here's a useful list of IO KBs, put together by Microsoft PSS Escalation Engineer Bob Dorr http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/archive/2006/11/27/what-do-i-need-to-know-about-sql-server-database-engine-i-o.aspx...

They're an interesting bunch over in Adelaide. I spoke at the SQL User Group over there today & was duely Elf'd by UG leader Rob Farley (thx Rob!) http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=47dfff6ef46bcba36bd3033G06121318 I always have an interesting...

Whilst high level tools such as Windows Perfmon can give you an overview of server performance and Waitstats can provide you with an insight into where bottlenecks are occuring within the database engine, seeking out the source of most SQL Server performance...

I presented a session on designing & managing high performance indexes at the Sydney SQL Server User Group tonight - had a great time & scored a nice bottle of Shiraz from McLaren Vale from local UG organiser Grant Paisley (thanks Grant!). We...

Prime & Oracle published another TPC-C benchmark this morning, achieving 1.2M transactions per minute @ $3.94 tpmC. This pushes HP & SQL Server's top result down to 4th & leaves SQL Server with only one result in the top 10 TPC-C benchmarks....

Virtually every DBA I talk to about index maintenance seems to defrag tables & indexes together. Here are a few thoughts about why this isn't a good idea.. (a) If overall database performance improves radically after rebuilding your tables, you've...

One of the first things that DBAs tend to do when investigating a query performance tuning problem is to check out the query's execution plan, preferably via the graphical showplan in QA or SSMS. Sure, this tells you how the query is currently...

A month has slipped past since my last blog, yet quite a bit of good stuff has been going on, including: I had a really enjoyable trip to Perth to present sessions on indexing to both the Dev & SQL user groups. Both sessions were very well attended...

By this amazing child.. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/170944/amazing_11_year_old/ WHAT a talent!...

This is the fourth blog post in a series I am currently writing in an attempt to de-bunk the myth that "clustered indexes (CIXs) should be created on every table". I'm going to take a moment here to clarify that I'm NOT saying CIXs...