I've just updated the ''Agent Alerts Management Pack'' found here. I realize that some don't feel confident in reading and executing T-SQL code and they instead prefer to point & click in SSMS instead. So I added two tables with my suggestion on the severity levels and error numbers to define alerts for.

Are you stupid, you might think... But stop and think for a while. Model is no different from other databases. And by default it is in full recovery model. So as soon as you do your first database backup (you do backup your system databases, right?) the log for model will start filling up and autogrow. ''But, hey, I don't do any modifications in ...

To many, this is a non-issue, since SSIS is installed anyhow. But not everyody installs SSIS. I for instance prefer to keep my production systems as clean as possible and only have what I really need (a principle which is harder and harder to live after as years go by...). Also, not all Editions of SQL Server comes with SSIS. I did a ...

Under some circumstances, autogrow for database files can be set to some 12000 percent. I think this is limited to SQL Server 2005 and for databases upgraded from SQL Server 2000 (I didn't bother to search - feel free to comment if you know). So, if you have a reasonably sized database and autogrow kicks in, you can do the maths and realize that ...

Just a quick note that we again can modify whether system messages are to go to eventlog/errorlog again. I.e., we can change the is_event_logged column in sys.messages. This is very valuable in general and specifically is you want to define Agent alerts (for which Agent polls the Eventlog). For instance: SELECT * FROM sys.messages WHERE ...

As many of you heard ( see Kevin’s post  http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2009/05/06/microsoft-marketing-throws-sql-server-under-the-bus.aspx ) MS marketing released a comment last week that indicated SQL Server couldn’t handle the load for the Win 7 downloads. But it appears that reality sets in and we get a much different story ...

I've often been thinking that ''somebody'' should produce a list and perhaps some ready-made TSQL code of the SQL Server error messages we want to be alerted for. Something like a Management Pack, but not tied to any particular sys mgmt software. Essentially, what error messages would we typically want to be alerted for, and some ready made TSQL ...

Ola Hallengren has updated his maint procedures. Support for SQL Server 2008 and some bug fixes. Check them out at: http://ola.hallengren.com

A few months ago, I blogged about a simple procedure to do backup (http://sqlblog.com/blogs/tibor_karaszi/archive/2007/09/25/tsql-script-to-do-backup-like-maintenance-plans.aspx). Just to let you know that Ola Hallengren has some of his own. Much more elaborate than mine, including things like reorg. Check it out at http://ola.hallengren.com/.

How many times have you asked for a way to turn off the behavior in SQL Server that logs successful backup messages to the SQL Server Logs and to the Windows Application Event Logs? If you are like most DBA’s probably a lot. I have been asking for this feature for ages. I have sent email to SQLWish, filed on LadyBug and most recently on Connect ...