Search results matching tags 'Design', 'DBA', and 'Administration'

Backup Meta-Data

BuckWoody — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:46:00 GMT

I'm working on a PowerShell script to show me the trending durations of my backup activities. The first thing I need is the data, so I looked at the Standard Reports in SQL Server Management Studio, and found a report that suited my needs, so I pulled out the script that it runs and modified it to this T-SQL Script.

A few words here - you need to be in the MSDB database for this to run, and you can add a WHERE clause to limit to a database, timeframe, type of backup, whatever. For that matter, I won't use all of the data in this query in my PowerShell script, but it gives me lots of avenues to graph:

SELECT distinct t1.name AS 'DatabaseName'

,(datediff( ss, t3.backup_start_date, t3.backup_finish_date)) AS 'DurationInSeconds'

,t3.user_name AS 'UserResponsible'

,t3.name AS backup_name

,t3.description

,t3.backup_start_date

,t3.backup_finish_date

,CASE WHEN t3.type = 'D' THEN 'Database'

WHEN t3.type = 'L' THEN 'Log'

WHEN t3.type = 'F' THEN 'FileOrFilegroup'

WHEN t3.type = 'G' THEN 'DifferentialFile'

WHEN t3.type = 'P' THEN 'Partial'

WHEN t3.type = 'Q' THEN 'DifferentialPartial'

END AS 'BackupType'

,t3.backup_size AS 'BackupSizeKB'

,t6.physical_device_name

,CASE WHEN t6.device_type = 2 THEN 'Disk'

WHEN t6.device_type = 102 THEN 'Disk'

WHEN t6.device_type = 5 THEN 'Tape'

WHEN t6.device_type = 105 THEN 'Tape'

END AS 'DeviceType'

,t3.recovery_model

FROM sys.databases t1

INNER JOIN backupset t3

ON (t3.database_name = t1.name )

LEFT OUTER JOIN backupmediaset t5

ON ( t3.media_set_id = t5.media_set_id )

LEFT OUTER JOIN backupmediafamily t6

ON ( t6.media_set_id = t5.media_set_id )

ORDER BY backup_start_date DESC

I'll munge this into my Excel PowerShell chart script tomorrow.

Script Disclaimer, for people who need to be told this sort of thing:

Never trust any script, including those that you find here, until you understand exactly what it does and how it will act on your systems. Always check the script on a test system or Virtual Machine, not a production system. Yes, there are always multiple ways to do things, and this script may not work in every situation, for everything. It’s just a script, people. All scripts on this site are performed by a professional stunt driver on a closed course. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited. Offer good for a limited time only. Keep out of reach of small children. Do not operate heavy machinery while using this script. If you experience blurry vision, indigestion or diarrhea during the operation of this script, see a physician immediately.

How Does Microsoft Do IT?

BuckWoody — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:17:24 GMT

Microsoft is a big company – and of course we have a lot of IT infrastructure that we have to manage. It might surprise you to learn that we have an IT group, just like at your company. We have a networking team, a server hardware team, software teams, DBA’s, the whole bit. In fact, we have more Mac computers than just about anyone (other than that company down south from here) and we write some of the best-selling Apple software. We have a Linux lab.

How do we do that? How do you manage 80,000+ seats, especially when most of your company are a bunch of tech-savvy geeks? It’s a tough job, but the neat thing is that we tell you how we’re doing it – everything – right here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb687780.aspx. If you want to focus in on just SQL Server, just check here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb687798.aspx.

(By the way - I *totally* should be doing our marketing – isn’t that title catchy? My catch-phrases and product names would be a lot better than what we normally come up with. I’m just sayin’.)

Know Your Product Specifications

BuckWoody — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:57:01 GMT

As the Data Professional in your organization, the rest of the org looks to you to ensure that the system can handle what the business requires. To do that, you need to know two things: what the business requires, and what SQL Server can do.

But of course there’s a bit more to it than that. Knowing the business side of the requirements – well, I teach an entire course on that. But knowing what SQL Server can do is something you can find out on your own.

SQL Server comes in versions, which are released based on date, and editions, which are based on features and capabilities. It’s that last part that I want to focus on today.

As Microsoft SQL Server matures, you’re going to see even more separation between what each edition of SQL Server can do and where it should be used. In the past, most folks have only focused on three editions – Express (the “free” one), Standard, and Enterprise. The rule of thumb was that if Standard was good enough at the moment, put it in. And it is true (and a good thing) that you can upgrade from one edition to another fairly easily.

But as time goes on, we should spend a little more time understanding what each edition does, what it’s features and capabilities are, and where and when we should put them in. As I study this information, I’ll throw in my 2 cents and you can as well based on what you see. One thing I’ve found so far is that once I have the business requirements, there’s a mix of what I can write in code and what might already be included in a different edition. It’s important to look long and hard at that choice – writing a feature on my own is certainly cheaper in the short term than moving to a “higher” edition, but in some cases it makes sense to let Microsoft handle that lifting.

These links are ones that you should bookmark and take a peek at periodically. They are the “header” links for more information on those features and capabilities:

SQL Server 2008: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143287.aspx

SQL Server 2008 R2: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143287(SQL.105).aspx

In addition, you might start learning a little more about SQL Azure. I’ll talk more about that later.