Search results matching tags 'Internals' and 'Best Practices'

SQL Server Performance Tuning and Optimization in Jacksonville, FL on April 27th

KKline — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:15:00 GMT

One last reminder - If you're interested in learning more about troubleshooting and optimizing SQL Server performance, please consider coming to the full-day seminar I'll be giving this Friday. Full details are here: http://sqlperftuning.eventbrite.com/. We'll be working some exercises, so bring your laptop with an instance of SQL Server 2008 (or later) running on it. It'll be fun!

I also encourage you to come on down to SQL Saturday 130 the following day - whether there's an official registration for you or not. (But don't tell 'em I said that). :^)

Come by the booth for a visit. I'll be hanging out most of the day and have some nice swag to give away.

Enjoy,

-Kev

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Microsoft Document Watch for Operational Excellence

KKline — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:59:00 GMT

Back when my day-to-day duties included database administration work and enterprise architecture, I became rather obsessed with the idea of operational excellence. I read everything I could on the topic. I made a list of favorites, which became somewhat shabby over time, as I dog-eared important pages and scribbled notes in the margins. (Perhaps that list of favorites might, in and of itself, make a good blog post). Fast-forward a decade and I'm still mightily interested in operational excellence for IT organizations. It's just that so much good material is available for free on the web. Here's a run-down of several useful documents and downloads to improve overall operation performance for those of you in a Microsoft-centric IT organization:

Microsoft Operations Framework

Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) version 4.0 guide is practical guidance for IT organizations. With the release of version 4.0, MOF now reflects a single, comprehensive IT service lifecycle—it helps IT professionals connect service management principles to everyday IT tasks and activities and ensures alignment between IT and the business.

Infrastructure Planning and Design

The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each guide addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.2 (for IT Professionals)

The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer provides a streamlined method to identify missing security updates and common security misconfigurations. MBSA 2.2 is a minor upgrade correct minor issues and add optional catalog support.

Security Compliance Manager

The Microsoft Security Compliance Manager provides centralized security baseline management features, a baseline portfolio, customization capabilities, and security baseline export flexibility to accelerate your organization’s ability to efficiently manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies.

New on SQLMag.Com: Update to SP_WHOISACTIVE

KKline — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:12:00 GMT

I profiled Adam Machanic's (blog | twitter) excellent stored procedure, SP_WHOISACTIVE, back in August of 2010 in my monthly SQLMag column, Tool Time. Adam has been diligent about maintaining the tool and adding new features. Read the details on my SQLMag Tool Time column (here - http://www.sqlmag.com/blogs/tool-time/entryid/76341/new-release-of-sp_whoisactive).

Enjoy!

-Kev

Twitter at kekline

Back in Atlanta! Wed, Feb 9 2011

KKline — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:04:00 GMT

I always enjoy spending time with my friends from Atlanta, as well as meeting folks and making new friends. If you live in the Atlanta area, I hope you'll join me on the evening of Wednesday, February 9th, 2011. Details are at the Atlanta SQL Server user group website.

It's common knowledge that I have a terrible memory for many things. However, one of the few things that my memory is usually really good at is remember names & faces (and remembering stories, but that is another story as well).

It's only in the last couple years that I've gotten to know Atlanta-area folks like Aaron Nelson (blog | twitter), at left. Aaron likes to tease me because the first time or two we talked after our initial introduction, I kept getting his name wrong. That's uncharacteristic of me. But, hey, I was distracted because Aaron had brought his 12 year old daughter along and I kept wishing that I'd brought mine!

Aaron has really good content on SQL Server and PowerShell on his blog and in his presentations. Don't miss out!

Another person in the Atlanta area I've enjoyed getting to know better is Stuart Ainsworth (blog | twitter). Stuart has really stepped up to the plate these last couple years as a leader and a volunteer. I'm really impressed with his efforts, especially because they're in very important but rather invisible and thankless tasks. One example is his work in succession governance for PASS. Stuart, I salute you and thank you for your efforts. I hope to see y'all there! And if I don't, y'all come up and visit us in Nashville some time.

Cheers,

-Kev

Twitter at kekline

Excellent new books for SQL Server professionals

KKline — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:53:00 GMT

Hello from Vancouver, BC! I'm enjoying the proceedings at the annual DevTeach conference and looking forward to some great sessions today.

I was recently given the privilege to tech review a new book put out by Manning Publications, written by Rod Colledge, called SQL Server 2008 Administration in Action. I liked the book so much that I was thrilled to be given the chance to write the forward for the book. Let me assure you that this admin book is unlike any other admin book for SQL Server that you might normally reach for. Unlike other reference books, this one provides a sort of very conversational set of best practices and collected wisdom, much like you might get if you were able to yell a question over the cube wall to a much more experienced DBA/mentor. The book itself is not free, but several of the chapters are free. I believe the book is absolutely worth the money. But at a minimum, grab the free chapters.

Another free SQL resource you might want to consider is the new 485-page e-book written by Jacob Sebastian called SQL Server XML Schema Collections. It explains XSD and XML schema collections in great detail, something that has always mystified me. Take some time to pull this one down and add it to your library.

Cheers,

-Kev

Twitter @ kekline

The Most Important Performance Monitor Counters for SQL Server

KKline — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:18:00 GMT

If you're well-versed in using PerfMon, I'd like to hear about the counters that you use regularly and what constitutes a good or bad value.

However, it's a rare individual who knows their way around PerfMon and its multitude of performance objects and counters. Which ones should you track? And even if you know the right ones to track, what values indicate good or bad performance?

If you've ever struggled with knowing which PerfMon counters to track for SQL Server performance, take a look at my TechTarget series of screencasts at SearchSQLServer.com. They'll give you most everything you need to know about using PerfMon and assessing PerfMon counters to learn about the behavior of SQL Server. It's a four-part series with the first two sessions, PerfMon Counters for Tracking Memory and PerfMon Counters for the Windows OS, already posted. These screencasts not only tell you which counters to track and why, but also what are the general rules of thumb for good performance when using these counters.

Enjoy!

-Kevin

P.S. I cover a variety of PerfMon counters in these screencasts. Many of them are discussed in an excellent document put together by Microsoft PSS. Read their blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/default.aspx.