1. Not preparing and validating a reliable backup and recovery policy with backup files retention period for databases as per agreed data loss and application downtime it may cause while recovering databases.

Very often some DBA’s rely heavily on adding a database maintenance plan only for regular backups and considering it done. I believe it’s not enough; a DBA must frequently check how long it takes to recover databases and should verify backup files for point in time recovery. Also, depending on database size it may take longer than expected time to do database recovery. Therefore, taking backups may not solve your requirements and it’s advised to use standby server with log shipping or database mirroring for quick database DR solutions.

2. Not knowing server hardware limits and utilization. It’s must to check System resource utilization & identifying bottlenecks on regular intervals for DISKIO, memory, CPU, Locks & Blocking etc counters. This information can give insight about how much server hardware resources are utilized/ available for current and near future workload generated by application(s). This information can help stabilizing the performance for a longer period, as well as knowing its limitations.

3. Not verifying SQL Server security, and not applying latest service pack/ version. It’s highly recommended to patch and apply bug fixes as soon as possible. An obsolete SQL server build/version is not recommended to keep running for production servers. Do check that you have carefully selected sysadmin role members and removed excessive permission from normal database users. It’s a general practice to enable only SQL option/settings that are required like – xp_cmdshell, CLR etc and make use of encryption & auditing to safeguard critical data.

4. Not defragging indexes or running Database consistency checks. Also not running regular maintenance activities like update stats on production databases. Or in some cases executing maintenance and other high resource consuming activities during production working hours.

5. Not checking how much free space is available in data or log files and shrinking databases again and again. Or setting ‘Auto Shrink’ database option to true is equivalent harmful.

6. Creating databases for Dev, Staging, UAT, Test, QA etc on Production SQL Server or Instance. This majorly causes manual/human mistakes by deleting/modifying objects or incorrectly assigning permissions.

7. Proactive Monitoring: Not setting SQL Alerts with email notification for Severity errors from 17 to 25; Disk free space check, CPU utilization, SQL/Agent/SSRS/SSAS services restart etc.
It’s highly advisable to set up automated alerts on SQL server for critical events. So that you are fully aware and feel secure that all events are reaching to you/team even though not sitting in front of computer screen. Going forward you may use Policy based management to capture events and streamlining various SQL instances in your environment.

8. Not using/applying High availability techniques (clustering, Mirroring, Log shipping) for critical databases. A DBA must identify business requirements and apply high availability techniques as per already defined SLA targets. It ensures timely availability of databases for applications in case of failure.

9. Running SQL profiler on production with no filters and end time. This is among most frequently happening mistakes. A DBA must understand that running profiler with no filters will capture all events and T-SQL queries thus generating extra workload on production. Its highly advised to use profiler with caution.

10. Setting database recovery option to ‘Full’ and never taking transaction log backups. I have seen cases where transaction log file size have increased 100 times to actual data due to backup negligence. Make sure you select database recovery model according to requirements and use backup policy accordingly. Also, carefully watch your transaction log backup jobs in logs hipping scenario to avoid large size database transaction log files.

SQL Server 2008 Videos and Demos Link
SQL Server 2005 Videos and Demos Link
SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) Readiness Videos Link
SQL Server 2008 Demo Videos and Webcasts Link
SQL Server 2005 Express for Beginners Link
SQL Server 2005 Database Administration Link

Please post or comment, If you have more links to be included.

But what happened if one fine day when you need your database backup file to work well and it doesn’t?? What if it is corrupted!! And you have only a Full backup for that day?

Today I am going to discuss about the script that I have posted in the download section couple of days back; the script will not only perform a full database backup of all user databases but it will also “verify the validation of the backup file”. It’s a must for DB environment having backup strategy like – where in you do not keep multiple copies of backups or simply have one day backup file retention period.

declare @int int ,@dbname varchar(22),@maxdbid int
declare @bkpath varchar(25),@path varchar(50)
select @maxdbid= max(dbid) from master..sysdatabases
set @int = 0
set @bkpath=’C:\SQLDB\backup\’
USE master
while (@int < @maxdbid)
begin
set @dbname = (select [name] from master..sysdatabases where dbid=@int and status!=1073807392)
if (@dbname != ‘tempdb’)
begin
  select @int as ‘DBID’,@dbname as ‘Database’
  select @path=@bkpath+@dbname+CONVERT(VARCHAR(12),GETDATE(),112)
  BACKUP DATABASE @dbname TO DISK = @path
  print @path
  print @bkpath
  restore verifyonly from disk=@path
  end
set @int = @int + 1
continue
break
end

Check the line # 17, restore verifyonly from disk = @path is the line that will help us to overcome above issue. This is not a hidden code lying in a secret place somewhere but this is something that we may have missed in our code – I know most of you have already using this option for your database backup validation, how many of you are using this option? Or out of curiosity any other option!!

PS: This code is the very basic code that I have wrote initially, you may modify and use the script according to your requirement without any obligation.

Your suggestions are welcome!

I have started authoring this book in May 2010 and as the time passes and gradually I move to the final chapter of the book, I was feeling like aha finally it is done!!! – Do you think so, it was this easy? No, every publication house has their own set of rules to be followed while authoring a book and a process to be followed before the chapter or entire book is ready to be published i.e. 1^st edit, 2^nd edit of the chapter until final edit and the Packt Publication is no exception.

Since this is the first time I was authoring book I was having little or no idea about authoring a book. The editors from Packt Publication helped me a lot by helping me time to time with proper answers to my queries. I must admit that I could not be able to complete this book without support and encouragement from my family including my 2 year old daughter Dhruti.I hope that you all will enjoy reading and learning from this book as I did while authoring and contributed my little part for the growth of my beloved SQL Server. Let me tell you about this book:

The term High Availability means that the servers or systems that host or run the business-critical applications should be highly available 24 X 7. As the word it-self defines how important it is to make these applications and data available for end-users as well as business users, if this data is not available for a short time, it will be a big problem for both sets of users. Imagine a bank spread across the country and having a huge customer base. One fine day, their server crashes! If the bank relies only on backups, then it might end up losing approximately 15 to 30 minutes of data, depending on the backup strategy. Now the HA options related to SQL Server such as clustering, replication, log shipping, and database mirroring will help overcome this situation.

In this book I have tried to cover every single piece of information that might requires for installing and configuring SQL Server HA option like Clustering, Replication, Log Shipping and Database Mirroring, below are the chapters:

Chapter 1: Understanding Windows Domains, Domain Users, and SQL Server Security
Chapter 2: Implementing Clustering
Chapter 3: Snapshot Replication
Chapter 4: Transactional Replication
Chapter 5: Merge Replication
Chapter 6: Peer-to-Peer Replication
Chapter 7: Log Shipping
Chapter 8: Database Mirroring
Appendix A: Troubleshooting
Appendix B: External References

If you are interested to read more about the detailed / contents of each chapter you may find them here. And, here is the link for the sample chapter

Drop an email with your content/summary to dk@sqlknowledge.com I will review and publish your content on SQLKnowledge.com by your name and provide you instant website access to review, modify & answer user comments on website.

Your comments & suggestions are welcome; Feel free to reply if you have any questions

Recently, 18th January 2011 Microsoft has released the updated version of Microsoft SQL Server Developer Training Kit which has

• 31 Presentations (includes Slide decks, videos and transcripts)
• 27 Demos (includes installer scripts, videos and transcripts)
• 12 hands on labs (includes installer scripts)

The main highlight of the updated version is – BI Solution, yes you read it right. The version of developer training kit has Solutions like:

• Build your first Microsoft BI Solution with SQL Server 2008 R2
• Introduction to BI Modeling Techniques
• Introduction to SQL Server 2008 R2 Integration Services
• Introduction to SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services
• Publishing and Accessing SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services Reports
• Introduction to SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services
• Introduction to SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services Query Syntax
• Accessing SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services Data
• Introduction to SharePoint 2010 PerformancePoint Services
• Introduction to Data Mining with SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services
• Introduction to Self-Service Reporting and Analysis with SQL Server 2008 R2

And all of this are free! Download the updated version of SQL Server Developer Training kit from here

You may want to check the complete list of what is included in SQL Server Developer Training Kit and System Requirements before you begin download.

Regards

Hemantgiri S. Goswami

• 17 Insufficient Resources
  These messages indicate that the statement caused SQL Server to run out of resources or have exceeded limit set by the database administrator.
• 18 Nonfatal Internal Error Detected
  These messages indicate that there is some type of internal software problem, but the statement finishes, and the connection to SQL Server is maintained.
• 19 Error in Resource
  These messages indicate that some non configurable internal limit has been exceeded and the current batch process is terminated.
• 20 SQL Error in Current Process
  These messages indicate that a statement has encountered a problem. Because the problem has affected only the current process, it is unlikely that the database itself has been damaged.
• 21 SQL Fatal Error in Database dbid Processes
  These messages indicate that you have encountered a problem that affects all processes in the current database; however, it is unlikely that the database itself has been damaged.
• 22 SQL Fatal Error Table Integrity Suspect
  These messages indicate that the table or index specified in the message has been damaged by a software or hardware problem.
• 23 SQL Fatal Error: Database Integrity Suspect
  These messages indicate that the integrity of the entire database is in question because of a hardware or software problem.
• 24,25 Hardware Error
  These messages indicate some type of media failure. The system administrator might have to reload the database. It might also be necessary to call your hardware vendor.

T-SQL example to create a new Alert for Severity Level 17, including sending email response to Operator named as ‘SQLAdmin’. This code can be used to create alerts for remaining severity levels till 25.

USE [msdb]

GO

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_add_alert @name=N'Sev17', 

        @message_id=0, 

        @severity=17, 

        @enabled=1, 

        @delay_between_responses=600, 

        @include_event_description_in=0, 

        @job_id=N'00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'

GO

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_add_notification @alert_name=N'Sev17', 

@operator_name=N'SQLAdmin', @notification_method = 1

GO

SQL Server 2008 Contains 294 events/messages having severity level grater than 16(SQL 2005 contains only 230). You may find the list using following T-SQL

SELECT severity,message_id,is_event_logged,    [Text]

FROM sys.messages  

WHERE language_id = 1033 

and severity>=17

ORDER BY severity desc, message_id asc

I happen to talk to some proactive production and application DBA’s those are running profiler trace on weekly or even daily basis for a short term with various filters. Running profiler till now was a manual & time consuming, forget ful task but not anymore. Here is the script that you can call from SQL Server Agent job and run profiler on your desired timings and filters. It is created using ‘Script Trace Definition’ from File-Export Menu, I have added profiler options to run it for defined duration, file location and stopping options.

Script 1: For tracing SQL Server Deadlock information. You may create a SQL agent job to run it for 24*7 on daily basis.

-- Create a Queue

declare @rc int

declare @TraceID int

declare @maxfilesize bigint

declare @DateTime datetime

declare @filecount int

-- Set the time limit for trace, 10 hours default in this script

declare @HourstoRunTrace smallint

set @HourstoRunTrace=1439

set @DateTime = DATEADD(mi,@HourstoRunTrace,getdate())

set @maxfilesize = 2048

set @filecount=10

-- Set the file path

declare @filename nvarchar(256)

-- Change the file location from C:\temp to any desired

set @filename= 'C:\temp\Prolifer-DeadLock_Trace-'+convert(varchar, getdate(), 5)+

'-'+ replace(convert(varchar, getdate(),108),':','')

print 'Trace File is being saved at : '+@filename

exec @rc = sp_trace_create @TraceID output, 2, @filename, @maxfilesize, @DateTime, @filecount

if (@rc != 0) goto error

-- Set the events

declare @on bit

set @on = 1

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 11, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 51, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 4, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 12, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 14, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 26, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 60, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 64, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 1, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 148, 41, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 7, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 15, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 55, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 8, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 32, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 56, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 64, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 1, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 9, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 25, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 41, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 49, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 57, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 2, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 10, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 26, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 58, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 3, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 11, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 35, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 51, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 4, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 12, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 52, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 60, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 13, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 6, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 14, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 25, 22, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 55, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 32, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 56, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 64, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 1, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 21, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 25, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 41, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 49, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 57, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 2, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 14, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 22, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 26, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 58, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 3, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 35, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 51, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 4, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 12, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 52, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 59, 60, @on

-- Set the Filters

exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 10, 0, 7, N'SQL Server Profiler%'

-- Set the trace status to start

exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 1

-- display trace id for future references

print 'TraceID started: '+ convert (varchar, @TraceID)

Print 'Waiting for Trace to complete (for specified duration) :'+ convert (varchar,@DateTime)

waitfor time @DateTime

exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 0

exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 2

Print 'Trace closed'

error:

if @rc<>0

begin

Print 'Error in the Script, Number: '+ convert(varchar,@rc)

end

Script 2: For finding T-SQL queries basis different filters. For example, reporting all queries taking over 3 seconds duration but are not from SQL Profiler or SQL Agent. You can enable or modify commented lines or add more to enable or disable filters for CPU, Reads etc.

-- Create a Queue

declare @rc int

declare @TraceID int

declare @maxfilesize bigint

declare @DateTime datetime

declare @filecount int

-- Set the time limit for trace, 10 hours default in this script

declare @HourstoRunTrace smallint

set @HourstoRunTrace=10

set @DateTime = DATEADD(hh,@HourstoRunTrace,getdate())

set @maxfilesize = 2048

set @filecount=10

-- Set the file path

declare @filename nvarchar(256)

-- Change the file location from C:\temp to any desired

set @filename= 'c:\temp\Prolifer-Performance-Trace-'+convert(varchar, getdate(), 5)+

'-'+ replace(convert(varchar, getdate(),108),':','')

print 'Trace File is being saved at : '+@filename

exec @rc = sp_trace_create @TraceID output, 2, @filename, @maxfilesize, @DateTime,@filecount

if (@rc != 0) goto error

-- Set the events

declare @on bit

set @on = 1

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 15, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 16, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 9, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 17, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 2, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 10, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 18, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 3, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 11, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 35, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 12, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 13, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 6, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 14, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 15, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 16, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 1, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 9, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 17, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 6, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 10, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 14, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 18, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 3, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 11, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 35, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 12, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 13, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 12, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 1, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 9, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 6, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 10, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 14, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 3, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 11, @on

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 13, 35, @on

-- Set the Filters

declare @intfilter int

declare @bigintfilter bigint

exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 10, 0, 7, N'SQL Server Profiler%'

exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 10, 0, 7, N'SQLAgent%'

-- Set the filter for duration here, example 3 seconds or 3000 milli seconds

set @bigintfilter = 3000000

exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 13, 0, 4, @bigintfilter

set @bigintfilter = NULL

exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 13, 0, 1, @bigintfilter

-- Set the filter for 'Reads' here

-- set @bigintfilter = 200

-- exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 16, 0, 4, @bigintfilter

-- set @bigintfilter = NULL

-- exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 16, 0, 1, @bigintfilter

-- Set the filter for 'CPU' here

-- set @intfilter = 100

-- exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 18, 0, 4, @intfilter

-- set @intfilter = NULL

-- exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 18, 0, 1, @intfilter

-- Set the trace status to start

exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 1

-- display trace id for future references

print 'TraceID started: '+ convert (varchar, @TraceID)

Print 'Waiting for Trace to complete (for specified duration) :'+ convert (varchar,@DateTime)

waitfor time @DateTime

exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 0

exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 2

Print 'Trace Stopped, closed'

error:

if @rc<>0

begin

Print 'Error in the Script, Number: '+ convert(varchar,@rc)

end

System Components
Processor: Intel Core i7-740QM Processor ( 1.73GHz 1333MHz 6MB )
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 1GB
Total memory: 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz
Display: 15.6″ HD LED Glare 1366×768
Pointing device: Industry Standard Touchpad
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200
Optical Drive: DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)
Battery: 6 Cell Lithium-Ion
Network Card: Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 1000
Bluetooth: Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR

The trouble started 100 days ago, but that time I was busy and could not work to find a reason. During this holidays leisure time, I uncovered NFS dvd again to find where did I leave the game on. I played for close to 90 minutes and boom, system shutdown abruptly; the same had happened earlier as well. I checked, laptop was burning hot and noise level was high. I tried booting system again but it did not. Ok, what to do, I put laptop in balcony to get it cool. it was close to 2 degree Celsius outside that did good job quickly. I installed Speedfan and found CPU temperature is nearby 41 degree and system was running fine.

I decided to play again while SpeedFan is monitoring & doing its work, very soon system got hot and started burning like oven. SpeedFan results were surprising, I played NFS for only 45 minutes and CPU was burning close to 92 degree Celsius already; I kept on playing for few more minutes till it crashed, perhaps one of CPU core temperature touched 100 degree Celsius.

Overall, its good to have a big hardware but its not always possible to keep running on 100%, limits can not hold for a long time even when its matter of playing a game. I may buy a laptop color to keep it cool and will see what else can be done other than moving to Iceland. On lighter side of this episode, Thankfully I have habit to keep laptop on table while working; I can not imagine what may happen if someone put in lap all the time.

In addition to these, If you have space left for something called “learn something new!” here is what I can offer for free that I enjoy following and practicing. These are set of rules that you can pursue for better results and overall improvements.

Survival the fittest – if you cannot adopt changing technology, work culture, requirements, life style or surroundings you will move out of race pretty soon. Its mantra of life; stay flexible and be ready to accept changes, mold yourself, swim with the flow, absorb what you get; if you can not get dissolved in progression, will be filtered out. This is the phrase that evolved life & diversity on planet earth.

No pain, no gain – it’s simple motivational theory, like 1+1; there are no free lunches in this world. If you need something you got to do something in return. Stand up; get ready to pay in advance for what you desire. There are no magical Ginny in this world. Always remember Pain is momentary, but Glory is for forever!

Never, ever, repeat mistakes - If you keep on making same mistakes you never going to move out of circular drive & better you forget designation. Remember it always, if you cannot; it’s the one you can have tattoo on. Making mistakes are not exactly bad, but at the end you should learn from your mistakes and making sure you never repeat & forget learning.

Go get it, no reservations needed! – Nobody come to your door with a free lottery ticket to win, come on. You want something? You better get going, if not now; then when? Do not just keep on waiting for favorable conditions; instead achieve your targets and move ahead for next one.

Everyone and everything can teach you something – Ask yourself, have your learned everything? No, never you can’t simply.. There is so much you still have to do & explore. In plain words, stay hungry & open to learn more.