Blogs

Actual Time Statistics in Execution Plans: Elapsed CPU Time and more

Actual Time Statistics in Execution Plans: Elapsed CPU Time and more

One of the coolest things to come to SQL Server Management Studio in a long time might be hard to see at first: it’s tucked away in the Properties Window.

But once you see it, it might just be something that you use all the time.

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Limiting Downtime for Schema Changes (Dear SQL DBA Episode 25)

Limiting Downtime for Schema Changes (Dear SQL DBA Episode 25)

You need to release schema changes while the SQL Server is in use. Learn why code generation tools write odd scripts and how to stay sane amid rapid releases in this 28 minute video… or scroll down to read a summary.

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Index Create and Last Modified Dates in SQL Server

Index Create and Last Modified Dates in SQL Server

on December 13, 2016 • 6 min read

In many environments, it’s useful to know exactly when an index was created or modified.

Did that last code release help performance, or hurt it? It’s really helpful to know exactly when the code was deployed to prove that your change made something better. Or that you might need to roll it back.

It takes a little preparation to track changes to your indexes, but it’s easy to implement.

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Does Truncate Table Reset Statistics?

Does Truncate Table Reset Statistics?

By Kendra Little on December 8, 2016 • 6 min read

Short answer: the SQL Server optimizer will know that the table was truncated, but statistics might not update when you expect.

For the long answer, let’s walk through an example using the WideWorldImporters sample database.

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When Did SQL Server Last Update That Statistic? How Much Has Been Modified Since? And What Columns are in the Stat?

When Did SQL Server Last Update That Statistic? How Much Has Been Modified Since? And What Columns are in the Stat?

Whether I’m working as a DBA, a consultant, a teacher, or just answering questions in my inbox, I always end up needing a script to inspect statistics one way or another.

Here are some freshly written scripts for a classic DBA question: what’s going on in my stats?

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Signs Your SQL Server is Running with Scissors (Dear SQL DBA Episode 24)

Signs Your SQL Server is Running with Scissors (Dear SQL DBA Episode 24)

Does your team know what it’s doing with SQL Server?

Learn what a consultant looks for when assessing a team, and signs that SQL Server may be badly configured.

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Learn to Tune Indexes in Lisbon on March 9, 2017

Learn to Tune Indexes in Lisbon on March 9, 2017

on November 30, 2016 • 2 min read

Want to learn to tune indexes in SQL Server? I’ll be teaching a day-long pre-conference session in Portugal in March. Hope to see you there, or at SQL Saturday Lisbon (free!) the following weekend.

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