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.

Myself Hemantgiri S. Goswami, SQL Server MVP, I am extremely happy to join SQL Knowledge as an author again. In coming days I will be actively sharing an articles, scripts and tips here.

I would like to thank Deepak for inviting me to be a part of SQL Knowledge once again.

Consolidation by definition is the process of combining multiple SQL Server Databases & Servers running on different machines (could be geographically separated) onto a smaller number of more powerful machines in a central location. However in my opinion regarding SQL, its a process of getting organized, spending for what you need or use, and off-course saving at the same time. Lets see how consolidation and virtualization works together?

Microsoft SQL Server since beginning is overall self maintaining, secure by default and self tuning DBMS that requires a very little or basic configuration during installation or later during usage, In a large Enterprise size organization its easier adaptability and usage can lead into uncoordinated installations, wasted hardware and licenses, lack of standards and security holes.

Think Again!  You should consider adopting Virtualization and Consolidation technique if you have similar questions:

• Looking by your SQL Server inventory list, you realized that number of SQL servers are going up every month?

• Looking by server utilization reports, you realized that your team or vendor over estimated database server hardware requirements and workload; leading into buying excessive hardware that your application is never going to use?

• Every time it take months to plan & implement SQL patching, upgrades, installation etc, Applying SQL Server best practices and security updates/settings are complex and far of reach.

Better together Approach: You can consider three best possible scenario to implement, but are having its own benefits and concerns.

• One OS/One SQLinstance- multiple databases
  Its the best that you can get, in simple words evaluate your application that uses a few database(s); move your databases to a shared database server. Concerns: shared cache, SA permission, similar name databases or objects and logins, maintenance window, remote desktop connection (rdp) etc

• One OS/Multiple SQL Instance
  Build a server having multiple SQL Server instances for applications that require its own unique collation, SQL version & build, own dedicated memory/cache, tempdb etc. Concerns: SA permissions, remote desktop etc.

• One OS/One SQL Instance (virtualization)
  For applications having extreme performance needs and unique set of configurations. build a server with multiple virtual Operating systems and each OS running SQL Instance.
  Software dependency: Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware, hp polyserve etc

Consolidation & Virtualization benefits

Concern(s):

Milestones to Destination

Best practices:

• Its better to divide entire SQL Server inventory into multiple smaller sections. Example- Should look at creating 5 subset of 100 servers rather than going in for virtualization of all 500 servers in a single attempt. Apply learning, experiences and best practices in later subsets.
• Use single machine with individual SQL Named Instance or VM for Production/Test/Development/Staging db requirements. (depends on application/environment)
• Never ever, oversubscribe resources for your server on virtual platform
• Calculate total server workload in virtualization model with real-time application and database workload in different scenario or timings.
• Carefully choose virtualization technique and server hardware to implement

Resources: Microsoft, VMware, MS PDF

Enterprise
Enterprise Evaluation
Developer
Standard
Workgroup

SQL Server 2005 SP4 includes SQL Server 2005 SP3 cumulative update 1 to 11, customer requested fixes, along with instances of the SQL Server 2005 SP4 database Engine support for DAC operations.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=b953e84f-9307-405e-bceb-47bd345baece&displaylang=en

DBCC activecursors [(spid)]

DBCC addextendedproc (function_name, dll_name)

DBCC addinstance (objectname, instancename)

DBCC adduserobject (name)

DBCC auditevent (eventclass, eventsubclass, success, loginname, rolename, dbusername, loginid)

DBCC autopilot (typeid, dbid, tabid, indid, pages [,flag])

DBCC balancefactor (variance_percent)

DBCC bufcount [(number_of_buffers)]

DBCC buffer ( {‘dbname’ | dbid} [, objid [, number [, printopt={0|1|2} ][, dirty | io | kept | rlock | ioerr | hashed ]]])

DBCC bytes ( startaddress, length )

DBCC cachestats

DBCC callfulltext

DBCC checkalloc [('database_name'[, NOINDEX | REPAIR])] [WITH NO_INFOMSGS[, ALL_ERRORMSGS][, ESTIMATEONLY]]

DBCC checkcatalog [('database_name')] [WITH NO_INFOMSGS]

DBCC checkconstraints [( 'tab_name' | tab_id | 'constraint_name' | constraint_id )] [WITH ALL_CONSTRAINTS | ALL_ERRORMSGS]

DBCC checkdb [('database_name'[, NOINDEX | REPAIR])] [WITH NO_INFOMSGS[, ALL_ERRORMSGS][, PHYSICAL_ONLY][, ESTIMATEONLY][, DBCC TABLOCK]

DBCC checkdbts (dbid, newTimestamp)]

DBCC checkfilegroup [( [ {'filegroup_name' | filegroup_id} ] [, NOINDEX] )] [WITH NO_INFOMSGS[, ALL_ERRORMSGS][, PHYSICAL_ONLY][, ESTIMATEONLY][, TABLOCK]]

DBCC checkident (‘table_name’[, { NORESEED | {RESEED [, new_reseed_value] } } ] )

DBCC checkprimaryfile ( {‘FileName’} [, opt={0|1|2|3} ])

DBCC checktable (‘table_name’[, {NOINDEX | index_id | REPAIR}]) [WITH NO_INFOMSGS[, ALL_ERRORMSGS][, PHYSICAL_ONLY][, ESTIMATEONLY][, TABLOCK]]

DBCC cleantable (‘database_name’|database_id, ‘table_name’|table_id, [batch_size])

DBCC cacheprofile [( {actionid} [, bucketid])

DBCC clearspacecaches (‘database_name’|database_id, ‘table_name’|table_id, ‘index_name’|index_id)

DBCC collectstats (on | off)

DBCC concurrencyviolation (reset | display | startlog | stoplog)

DBCC config

DBCC cursorstats ([spid [,'clear']])

DBCC dbinfo [('dbname')]

DBCC dbrecover (dbname [, IgnoreErrors])

DBCC dbreindex (‘table_name’ [, index_name [, fillfactor ]]) [WITH NO_INFOMSGS]

DBCC dbreindexall (db_name/db_id, type_bitmap)

DBCC dbrepair (‘dbname’, DROPDB [, NOINIT])

DBCC dbtable [({'dbname' | dbid})]

DBCC debugbreak

DBCC deleteinstance (objectname, instancename)

DBCC des [( {'dbname' | dbid} [, {'objname' | objid} ])]

DBCC detachdb [( 'dbname' )]

DBCC dropcleanbuffers

DBCC dropextendedproc (function_name)

DBCC dropuserobject (‘object_name’)

DBCC dumptrigger ({‘BREAK’, {0 | 1}} | ‘DISPLAY’ | {‘SET’, exception_number} | {‘CLEAR’, exception_number})

DBCC errorlog

DBCC extentinfo [({'database_name'| dbid | 0} [, {'table_name' | table_id} [, {'index_name' | index_id | -1}]])]

DBCC fileheader [( {'dbname' | dbid} [, fileid])

DBCC fixallocation [({'ADD' | 'REMOVE'}, {'PAGE' | 'SINGLEPAGE' | 'EXTENT' | 'MIXEDEXTENT'}, filenum, pagenum [, objectid, indid])

DBCC flush (‘data’ | ‘log’, dbid)

DBCC flushprocindb (database)

DBCC free dll_name (FREE)

DBCC freeproccache

DBCC freeze_io (db)

DBCC getvalue (name)

DBCC help (‘dbcc_command’ | ‘?’)

DBCC icecapquery (‘dbname’, stored_proc_name [, #_times_to_icecap  (-1 infinite, 0 turns off)]) Use ‘dbcc icecapquery (printlist)’ to see list of SP’s to profile. Use ‘dbcc icecapquery (icecapall)’ to profile all SP’s.

DBCC incrementinstance (objectname, countername, instancename, value)

DBCC ind ( { ‘dbname’ | dbid }, { ‘objname’ | objid }, { indid | 0 | -1 | -2 } )

DBCC indexdefrag ({dbid | dbname | 0}, {tableid | tablename}, {indid | indname})

DBCC inputbuffer (spid)

DBCC invalidate_textptr (textptr)

DBCC invalidate_textptr_objid (objid)

DBCC iotrace ( { ‘dbname’ | dbid | 0 | -1 }, { fileid | 0 }, bufsize, [ { numIOs | -1 } [, { timeout (sec) | -1 } [, printopt={ 0 | 1 }]]] )

DBCC latch ( address [, 'owners'] [, 'stackdumps'])

DBCC lock ([{'DUMPTABLE' | 'DUMPSTATS' | 'RESETSTATS' | 'HASH'}]|[{'STALLREPORTTHESHOLD', stallthreshold}])

DBCC lockobjectschema (‘object_name’)

DBCC log ([dbid[,{0|1|2|3|4}[,['lsn','[0x]x:y:z’]|['numrecs',num]|['xdesid','x:y']|['extent','x:y']|['pageid','x:y']|['objid',{x,'y'}]|['logrecs',{'lop'|op}...]|['output',x,['filename','x']]…]]])

DBCC loginfo [({'database_name' | dbid})]

DBCC matview ({‘PERSIST’ | ‘ENDPERSIST’ | ‘FREE’ | ‘USE’ | ‘ENDUSE’})

DBCC memobjlist [(memory object)]

DBCC memorymap

DBCC memorystatus

DBCC memospy

DBCC memusage ([IDS | NAMES], [Number of rows to output])

DBCC monitorevents (‘sink’ [, 'filter-expression'])

DBCC newalloc – please use checkalloc instead

DBCC no_textptr (table_id , max_inline)

DBCC opentran [({'dbname'| dbid})] [WITH TABLERESULTS[,NO_INFOMSGS]]

DBCC outputbuffer (spid)

DBCC page ( {‘dbname’ | dbid}, filenum, pagenum [, printopt={0|1|2|3} ][, cache={0|1} ])

DBCC perflog

DBCC perfmon

DBCC pglinkage (dbid, startfile, startpg, number, printopt={0|1|2}, targetfile, targetpg, order={1|0})

DBCC pintable (database_id, table_id)

DBCC procbuf [({'dbname' | dbid}[, {'objname' | objid}[, nbufs[, printopt = { 0 | 1 } ]]] )]

DBCC proccache

DBCC prtipage (dbid, objid, indexid [, [{{level, 0} | {filenum, pagenum}}] [,printopt]])

DBCC pss [(uid[, spid[, printopt = { 1 | 0 }]] )]

DBCC readpage ({ dbid, ‘dbname’ }, fileid, pageid, formatstr [, printopt = { 0 | 1} ])

DBCC rebuild_log (dbname [, filename])

DBCC renamecolumn (object_name, old_name, new_name)

DBCC resource

DBCC row_lock (dbid, tableid, set) – Not Needed

DBCC ruleoff ({ rulenum | rulestring } [, { rulenum | rulestring } ]+)

DBCC ruleon (  rulenum | rulestring } [, { rulenum | rulestring } ]+)

DBCC setcpuweight (weight)

DBCC setinstance (objectname, countername, instancename, value)

DBCC setioweight (weight)

DBCC show_statistics (‘table_name’, ‘target_name’)

DBCC showcontig (table_id | table_name [, index_id | index_name] [WITH FAST, ALL_INDEXES, TABLERESULTS [,ALL_LEVELS]])

DBCC showdbaffinity

DBCC showfilestats [(file_num)]

DBCC showoffrules

DBCC showonrules

DBCC showtableaffinity (table)

DBCC showtext (‘dbname’, {textpointer | {fileid, pageid, slotid [,option]}})

DBCC showweights

DBCC shrinkdatabase ({dbid | ‘dbname’}, [freespace_percentage [, {NOTRUNCATE | TRUNCATEONLY}]])

DBCC shrinkdb  is no longer supported. Please use shrinkdatabase instead

DBCC shrinkfile ({fileid | ‘filename’}, [compress_size [, {NOTRUNCATE | TRUNCATEONLY | EMPTYFILE}]])

DBCC sqlmgrstats

DBCC sqlperf (LOGSPACE)({IOSTATS | LRUSTATS | NETSTATS | RASTATS [, CLEAR]} | {THREADS} | {LOGSPACE})

DBCC stackdump [( {uid[, spid[, ecid]} | {threadId, ‘THREADID’}] )]

DBCC tab ( dbid, objid )

DBCC tape_control {‘query’ | ‘release’}[,('\\.\tape<n>')]

DBCC tec [( uid[, spid[, ecid]] )]

DBCC textall [({'database_name'|database_id}[, 'FULL' | FAST] )]

DBCC textalloc ({‘table_name’|table_id}[, 'FULL' | FAST])

DBCC thaw_io (db)

DBCC traceoff [( tracenum [, tracenum ... ] )]

DBCC traceon [( tracenum [, tracenum ... ] )]

DBCC tracestatus (trace# [, ...trace#])

DBCC unpintable (dbid, table_id)

DBCC updateusage ({‘database_name’| 0} [, 'table_name' [, index_id]]) [WITH [NO_INFOMSGS] [,] COUNT_ROWS]

DBCC upgradedb (db)

DBCC usagegovernor (command, value)

DBCC useplan [(number_of_plan)]

DBCC useroptions

DBCC wakeup (spid)

DBCC writepage ({ dbid, ‘dbname’ }, fileid, pageid, offset, length, data)