Allen White

Speaking about Indexing

AllenMWhite — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:05:00 GMT

I'll be presenting two sessions this week (February 9 and 11, 2010), both on SQL Server Indexing. The first is for the PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter, and will take place on Tuesday at noon EST. You can attend the meeting via this link: https://www323.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=8PQHN2&role=attend...(read more)

Speaking at SQLSaturday #30 in Richmond

AllenMWhite — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:16:00 GMT

I'll be presenting two sessions this Saturday (January 30, 2010) in Richmond - Automate SQL Server Administration with PowerShell and Gather SQL Server Performance Data with PowerShell . The event takes place at ECPI College of Technology, 4305 Cox Rd,...(read more)

PASS 2009 Evaluation Results

AllenMWhite — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:15:00 GMT

The results are in, and I'm pleased, but not satisfied. I delivered a brand new session called Gather SQL Server Performance Data with PowerShell , where I discussed key performance counters you should monitor and why, then a PowerShell script to gather...(read more)

Service Broker Basics - Part Deux

AllenMWhite — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:40:00 GMT

Last week I introduced the Service Broker Basics . Today I'd like to cover some of the "plumbing" - the components that allow communication between different servers running Service Broker. Endpoints . There needs to be a channel for the communications...(read more)

Service Broker Basics

AllenMWhite — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:59:00 GMT

I'm currently implementing a Service Broker solution at a client site, and it's been an interesting challenge, because there's not a lot of information out there to help guide you through the process. Here I'd like to walk you through the basics. Message...(read more)

[OT] Happy New Year

AllenMWhite — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:43:00 GMT

Well, it's been an interesting year. I got to teach four different brand new SQL Server courses, and teach classes in four different countries on two continents. Two books were published with chapters I wrote. Microsoft published a whitepaper I wrote....(read more)

Performance Data Gathering

AllenMWhite — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:28:00 GMT

As a DBA, one of the things I struggled with was gathering all my important system information in one place, so I could see easily where my problems might be. Gathering perfmon data, combining it with trace data, adding in disk space information - it...(read more)

[Tagged] Anatomy of a Geek

AllenMWhite — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:44:00 GMT

I got tagged by my buddy Michael Coles, aka Sergeant SQL to talk about how I "became" a geek. (I use quotes because I've really always been a geek.) Back in the 9th grade (1968 for those of you counting) my math teacher asked if there was anyone in the...(read more)

ADO.NET in PowerShell

AllenMWhite — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:03:00 GMT

I've had to rework some logic for gathering database information in my serverstatus.ps1 script, because SMO doesn't exactly do things the way one would think. The result is that the performance is unacceptable when dealing with multi-terabyte databases....(read more)

Browse and Script

AllenMWhite — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:11:00 GMT

One of the cool features of the SQL Server PowerShell snapins is the the ability to browse SQL Server as though it was a file system. While Management Studio has the nice graphical tree structure, sometimes I find it more productive to walk up and down...(read more)

Use the Best Tool for the Task - Part 2

AllenMWhite — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:28:00 GMT

Yesterday I posted about how Transact-SQL was better suited than SMO for gathering details about database files for a database with very large files. Today I'd like to point out that creating the database I used to test that fix was far easier with PowerShell...(read more)

Use the Best Tool for the Task

AllenMWhite — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:22:00 GMT

Last February I wrote an article for Simple-Talk called Let PowerShell do an Inventory of your Servers . This script was useful to me then, and it continues to be so, but it recently ran into a glitch. Here is the code in the script to gather data on...(read more)

24 Hours of PASS Tonight

AllenMWhite — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:19:00 GMT

For those of you who may have missed it, the 24 Hours of PASS conference starts tonight at 8pm EDT! I'll be presenting my introductory PowerShell for SQL Server session at 9pm EDT, so if you're interested in getting started with PowerShell, please join...(read more)

A Couple of Invoke-SQLCMD Issues

AllenMWhite — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:33:00 GMT

In working on a PowerShell script to load data into SQL Server, I decided to use the Invoke-SQLCMD cmdlet included in the snapins provided with SQL Server 2008, and found a couple of issues you should know about. First, as a matter of best practices,...(read more)

User Group Presentation: Essential Database Management - Top Ten Recommendations

AllenMWhite — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:56:00 GMT

In the August 13th 2009 meeting of the Ohio North SQL Server Users Group (ONSSUG), Paul Randal and his wife Kimberly Tripp , will run you through their top-ten database maintenance recommendations, with a lot of tips and tricks along the way. This top...(read more)