Blogs

How to Query Histogram Target XML in Extended Events

How to Query Histogram Target XML in Extended Events

on January 12, 2017 • 3 min read

When I was recently testing tempdb file usage, I used an Extended Events session that used SQL Server’s histogram target to track sqlserver.file_read events in the tempdb database for a specific session.

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Administering COTS databases (ISVs / Third Party Vendors)

Administering COTS databases (ISVs / Third Party Vendors)

By Kendra Little on January 10, 2017 • 4 min read

I recently received a question from a vendor about databases created by software vendors.

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Configure Fields and Predicates for Multiple X-Events

Configure Fields and Predicates for Multiple X-Events

By Kendra Little on January 5, 2017 • 1 min read

I’m not always the best at learning to use graphical interfaces. Maybe that’s why I often don’t like them?

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Parallelism and tempdb data file usage in SQL Server

Parallelism and tempdb data file usage in SQL Server

on January 3, 2017 • 4 min read

I’m sometimes asked if the number of CPU cores used by a query determines the number of tempdb files that the query can use.

Good news: even a single threaded query can use multiple tempdb data files.

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Columnstore Indexes and Computed Columns in SQL Server 2016

Columnstore Indexes and Computed Columns in SQL Server 2016

By Kendra Little on December 29, 2016 • 4 min read

You can’t do everything with a columnstore index – but SQL Server’s optimizer can get pretty creative so it can use a columnstore index in ways you might not expect.

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Tracing Deadlock Graphs: Extended Events or Server Side Trace

Tracing Deadlock Graphs: Extended Events or Server Side Trace

Deadlock graphs are incredibly helpful for figuring out why queries are getting automatically killed off by SQL Server.

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Collecting the Blocked Process Report (XEvents and Server Side Trace)

Collecting the Blocked Process Report (XEvents and Server Side Trace)

I’m a big fan of the built-in Blocked Process Report in SQL Server. It’s come in handy for troubleshooting blocking situations for me many times.

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