Feodor Georgiev's blog

Question of the week: index with fill factor 1…

sibir1us — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:04:19 +0000

Would you ever have a good enough reason to create an index which has fill factor of 1? If yes, then why. If no, then why?

linkscolor = "000000"; highlightscolor = "888888"; backgroundcolor = "FFFFFF"; channel = "none"; . . . → Read More: Question of the week: index with fill factor 1…

Do seagulls really eat starfish?

sibir1us — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 08:44:58 +0000

Do seagulls really eat starfish? . . . → Read More: Do seagulls really eat starfish?

Back online

sibir1us — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:17:39 +0000

About 20 days later (and a few epiphanies later) I am back home. Well, at least physically. Otherwise, I am still traveling somewhere between Honfleur and Skagen.

Here are some of the thoughts from the past 20 days:

Making fun of long vacations – when I lived in the US and worked as a consultant, the general public . . . → Read More: Back online

Question of the week: too many statistics?

sibir1us — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:33:18 +0000

The statistics on a table are created in a several ways - they can be created automatically by SQL Server, also they get created when you create an index, and also, you can choose to create additional statistics if you need them. Here is the question... . . . → Read More: Question of the week: too many statistics?

Some tools of the trade and why a DBA should know more

sibir1us — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:20:26 +0000

It is important to understand, that the DBA's work is barely limited only to the mere database performance... . . . → Read More: Some tools of the trade and why a DBA should know more

Where do you get your SQL Server knowledge?

Feodor — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:00:27 +0000

... if there is too much information everywhere, how do we know what to get, how to filter it and what to make out of it? . . . → Read More: Where do you get your SQL Server knowledge?

Bubbles

sibir1us — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:49:55 +0000

Here are the results of a photo experiment. I was trying to take pictures of some bubbles, but it turned out that they move way too fast. . . . → Read More: Bubbles

What do you do with your fame and money?

sibir1us — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:56:48 +0000

I have been wondering lately: even if someone is the most knowledgeable and richest person, what good is it if they don't do much with it? How do you help others? Do you share your knowledge, do you help good causes? Please share your opinion in the survey below... . . . → Read More: What do you do with your fame and money?

Thank you for the index, DBA! (you saved my system!)

Feodor — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:00:44 +0000

It happens often. Too often, maybe. A DBA goes to a company, looks at the system, which is running slow and and the business people are losing faith in, and the DBA creates an index or two and the system starts performing 50 times better. And then everyone seems to be quite happy.

If you are a . . . → Read More: Thank you for the index, DBA! (you saved my system!)

Question of the week: How do you know if you are using encryption

sibir1us — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:23:25 +0000

How do you know if you are using encryption... . . . → Read More: Question of the week: How do you know if you are using encryption

How to find information about your database tables

Feodor — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:14:20 +0000

The following 3 scripts will give you information about your database tables... . . . → Read More: How to find information about your database tables

When I’m right… I’m right.

sibir1us — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:42:10 +0000

When I'm right... I'm right. Here is another one of my favorite cartoons... . . . → Read More: When I’m right… I’m right.

Question of the week: how do you find cross-database queries?

Feodor — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:23:32 +0000

Here is the question: how can you determine how many and what cross-database queries are running on your server? . . . → Read More: Question of the week: how do you find cross-database queries?

A bit more about parallelism

sibir1us — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:48:57 +0000

Here is one more script which gives you information about the currently running queries which are using parallel execution . . . → Read More: A bit more about parallelism

HDR photography

sibir1us — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:08:07 +0000

Take two on HDR photography… Take one was not that successful, if you ask me, but now I am taking on the subject once again, since the vacation is approaching.

Here are some good sites with tutorials on HDR photography:

Colin Smith, Photoshopcafe

Mansurovs Photography

The Tutorial blog

The stuck in customs blog

What if the second attempt fails as well? Well, . . . → Read More: HDR photography

Who reads my blog and from where

sibir1us — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:53:40 +0000

I am always excited to see who reads my blog and from where. It kinda flatters me somehow that people from all over the world are interested in SQL Server and technology. And that people somehow find time to browse through my blog articles.

Today I found this wonderful free tool which displays the country flags of . . . → Read More: Who reads my blog and from where

Question of the week: how to simulate parallelism?

sibir1us — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:03:03 +0000

Question of the week: how to simulate parallelism? . . . → Read More: Question of the week: how to simulate parallelism?

New lens – Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC

sibir1us — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:21:53 +0000

Got a new lens. I must say that the performance of the lens is beyond any expectations. Everyone was saying that the image distortion and quality would not be great, but after taking some pictures I must say that the lens is excellent. It performs very well in all ranges, and as long as you have . . . → Read More: New lens – Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC

Query the cached plans: Implicit conversion

sibir1us — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:01:59 +0000

As I have written previously, the Implicit Conversions can be a performance problem and they can be easily avoided. . . . → Read More: Query the cached plans: Implicit conversion

Knowledge is infinite

sibir1us — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:32:28 +0000

Knowledge is infinite... Almost... . . . → Read More: Knowledge is infinite

Spool – query your cached plans

sibir1us — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:34:28 +0000

In a later post I will explain the performance of the different kinds of spools, but for now I would like to post this script which will let you query the "snapshot of your cached plans" and will let you find the spools in your cached plans. . . . → Read More: Spool – query your cached plans

News on the tomatoes

sibir1us — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:41:58 +0000

Here are some pictures from the tomatoes, growing on the balcony . . . → Read More: News on the tomatoes

The worst kind of problem

sibir1us — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:23:55 +0000

How prepared are we for sudden performance problems . . . → Read More: The worst kind of problem

Feed your hunger for DMV’s

sibir1us — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:27:18 +0000

Here is a great book published by Glenn Berry: "SQL Server DMV Starter pack". The book is distributed for free . . . → Read More: Feed your hunger for DMV’s

Currently open cursors

sibir1us — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:13:32 +0000

Have you wondered how many open cursors are running on your system? . . . → Read More: Currently open cursors

Plan re-compilations with multiple IF statements in a stored procedure?

Feodor — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:55:37 +0000

So, if you have a stored procedure, containing several IF statements, does the cached plan get recompiled every time the procedure is executed? . . . → Read More: Plan re-compilations with multiple IF statements in a stored procedure?

Question of the week: Memory Grant in execution plan

sibir1us — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:09:09 +0000

The question is simple: when you execute the following query (from Management Studio) towards the AdventureWorks database... . . . → Read More: Question of the week: Memory Grant in execution plan

What do I read?

sibir1us — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:33:18 +0000

The best thing that happened to SQL Server is its vast and active community. There are plenty of articles, discussions, scripts and ideas published every day. How do you stay “on top”? How do you get informed about news, where do you search for new ideas?

Here is a list of sites which I check (almost) every . . . → Read More: What do I read?

My favorite cartoon…

sibir1us — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:01:14 +0000

And here is the site with the works of Sergei Elkin. . . . → Read More: My favorite cartoon…

Once I went to a baseball game…

sibir1us — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:58:53 +0000

... and I don't remember myself being more bored than that. There were hot dogs and beer. Angels vs. Brewers. Maybe I just don't understand the rules. Would it have been more interesting if I did understand the game? Who knows who won. We left in the 7th part. :) . . . → Read More: Once I went to a baseball game…

Some bees

sibir1us — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:45:08 +0000

Once I dared to get close to a beehive and take pictures from about 1 meter. Scary. :) (That's how I gave up on the photographer career.) . . . → Read More: Some bees

Speaking of car shows…

sibir1us — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:20:14 +0000

Recently I went to the American car show in Norrtälje, and it kinda amazed me that I could not remember larger and better organized car show (and I have been to a few i SoCal). I found some pics from a car show in Newport Beach, CA. I think this was in 2006. . . . → Read More: Speaking of car shows…

How to query the cached plans XML

sibir1us — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:41:54 +0000

In a previous post I described how to save the current cached plans in a database table and in this post I will show you how to make that data useful.

First of all, if you are not clear with the ways of shredding XML in SQL Server, you can find more information on Plamen Ratchev’s blog.

So, . . . → Read More: How to query the cached plans XML

What could you do if you want to be asked to leave a restaurant

sibir1us — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:29:00 +0000

Here are a few ideas for you, if you find yourself bored and feel like you want to get kicked out of a public place (mall, restaurant, store and so on). You can do one of the following, and chances are that the management will come and ask you to leave the premises. By the way, . . . → Read More: What could you do if you want to be asked to leave a restaurant

What is bloating my plan cache?

sibir1us — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:09:36 +0000

Here is a query which will return all adhoc queries which are used only once and the result will be sorted by the size . . . → Read More: What is bloating my plan cache?

How to take a “snapshot” of your cached plans

sibir1us — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:51:46 +0000

I would like very much to have some of the currently cached plans saved so I can compare them to the newly generated cached plans after the restart. Why would I like to do that? There are several reasons:

to be able to query the currently cached plans – I would like to work with the cached . . . → Read More: How to take a “snapshot” of your cached plans

American Car Show Norrtälje 2010

sibir1us — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:09:10 +0000

Today we visited the American car show in Norrtälje. A colleague had told me that the Auto club in Norrtälje was the most impressive one in the country, and indeed, Sweden seems to be overpopulated with American classic cars. I am not sure about the statistics, but to me it seems that the number of per . . . → Read More: American Car Show Norrtälje 2010

A spider hanging out

sibir1us — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:30:13 +0000

Here is the latest picture from the tomatoes on balcony – a small spider had decided to hang out and was jumping up and down from one of the leaves. Quite cool – good thing I had the Canon 50mm lens at the time.

linkscolor = "000000"; highlightscolor = "888888"; backgroundcolor = . . . → Read More: A spider hanging out

Find queries using parallelism in SQL Server (from cached plans)

sibir1us — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:32:54 +0000

Here is how you can query the cached plans and get queries which are using parallel execution and get some information about the query performance.

Important: do NOT run this script on a busy transactional production environment. A much better approach of querying the cached plans is described here and here.

Note: This is not an optimal method . . . → Read More: Find queries using parallelism in SQL Server (from cached plans)

How to interpret parallelism on your SQL Server

Feodor — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:52:39 +0000

Note: Do not disable parallelism before understanding the mechanics of it and before testing the query performance. There are several ways to control the parallel execution of queries, i.e. you can use a hint within the query (OPTION(MAXDOP 1)), or you can set the “Cost threshold for parallelism” on the server level. Also, there is an . . . → Read More: How to interpret parallelism on your SQL Server

About technology

sibir1us — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:16:11 +0000

Technology is like an evil dog - the more you are afraid of it, the worse it gets. . . . → Read More: About technology

Utilization of resources: optimization

sibir1us — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:51:40 +0000

Did you know that your SQL Server might be using 10% of the system resources to optimize queries?!

As you know, the query optimization is an expensive process, and millions of man hours have been spent on refining the optimizer’s algorithm for processing, generating and reusing plans. And yet, it takes one mediocre developer to bring the . . . → Read More: Utilization of resources: optimization

Check the signatures of your stored procedures and functions

sibir1us — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 07:47:27 +0000

I found this script on Marko Parkkola’s blog, which lets you check the signatures. I am posting the script here because it returns an error

Msg 536, Level 16, State 5, Line 47 Invalid length parameter passed to the SUBSTRING function.

I am posting it on my blog because Marko does not allow comments on his blog and there . . . → Read More: Check the signatures of your stored procedures and functions

Find out the Hash and Sort warnings on your server

sibir1us — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:38:52 +0000

As it was discussed earlier, the Hash bails and Sort warnings can actually cause a significant performance degradation in your SQL Server. The Hash Bails are explained in more detail here.

When it comes to determining if you have hash and sort warnings in your system currently, you can run the following script:

* keep in mind the . . . → Read More: Find out the Hash and Sort warnings on your server

How to find your current deafult trace file

sibir1us — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:54:04 +0000

I am hoping that you have your default trace enabled (or should I say: I hope you have not disabled it!) and if you would like to know the path and the file name of the current trace file you can execute the following script:

?View Code TSQLSELECT CAST(value AS VARCHAR(550)) FROM fn_trace_getinfo(DEFAULT) WHERE property = 2 AND . . . → Read More: How to find your current deafult trace file

2 Hash Matches in a row?

sibir1us — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:49:39 +0000

Here is the challenge: after reading on hash matches’ performance implications here, on Pinal Dave’s blog and on Craig Freedman’s blog, the question is: “When would you see 2 hash matches in a row?”

For example, look at the following execution plan, and try to write a query which produces similar plan with 2 Hash Match operators . . . → Read More: 2 Hash Matches in a row?

SQL Server performance – Hash warning

sibir1us — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:33:05 +0000

It turns out that another one of the performance monsters (aside from missing indexes, fragmentation and silly code) can be the the hash and sorting problems. I am not sure if it is a common practice for many DBAs to look at the Profiler’s “Errors and Warnings” event class periodically. I am curious, though, and if . . . → Read More: SQL Server performance – Hash warning

SQL Server Standard Reports definition / source code

sibir1us — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:03:28 +0000

Have you wondered about the source code of the Standard Reports in the SQL Server Management studio? (Here is a post which lists all Standard Reports in SQL Server)

After some serious search online I found this site, where one can download the source code of the rdl files. After you get the source code, I am . . . → Read More: SQL Server Standard Reports definition / source code

Find T-SQL in your report server

sibir1us — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:34:48 +0000

You have the following challenge: you have a large environment and you are making some changes to your schemas. You need to know what code will be affected by the changes and you have to make sure that nothing breaks. You can easily search the code within your databases by using the syscomments (or by using . . . → Read More: Find T-SQL in your report server

Complete list of Standard SQL Server reports

sibir1us — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:47:29 +0000

I found this list of reports available in SQL Server Management Studio and I think it would be good to share it. . . . → Read More: Complete list of Standard SQL Server reports