Redgate Blog

Posts by
Phil Factor

Phil Factor (real name withheld to protect the guilty), aka Database Mole, has 30 years of experience with database-intensive applications. Despite having once been shouted at by a furious Bill Gates at an exhibition in the early 1980s, he has remained resolutely anonymous throughout his career. He is a regular contributor to <strong><a href="http://www.simple-talk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Simple Talk</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SQLServerCentral</a></strong>.

22 March 2019

22 March 2019

Tracking the number of active sessions on a database using Redgate Monitor

Phil Factor creates a simple custom metric to track the number of sessions that have recently done a read or write on a database. Having established a baseline for the metric, you'll be able to spot, and investigate the cause of, any wild deviations from normal behavior. Read more

15 March 2019

15 March 2019

Checking on Failed Server Logins, Server Errors and Warnings using Redgate Monitor

Provides a PowerShell monitoring script for errors, warnings and critical events on the Windows server hosting your SQL Server instance, including the failed server login attempts that would accompany a brute-force password attack. Read more

6 March 2019

6 March 2019

Safely Deleting Clones and Images during Database Development and Testing

Whenever you’re ready to refresh a test cell with the latest database version, you need a safe way to drop the current set of clones, and the parent image, without losing any unsaved work. Phil Factor provides a PowerShell script that automates this process so it runs in the time… Read more

4 March 2019

4 March 2019

Scripting Custom SQL Server Clones for Database Development and Testing

Phil Factor shows how to automatically apply T-SQL modification scripts during image and clone creation. Using this technique you can, for example, apply data masking to all clones, or customize an individual clone to work on a special variant or branch version, or set up instance level objects like Agent… Read more

19 February 2019

19 February 2019

Deploying and Reverting Clones for Database Development and Testing

Demonstrating how to use PowerShell automation to create a suite of clones, for testing or development work, with the ability to revert a clone to its original state, instantly, ready for the next set of tests to begin. Read more

#workingwithclones

18 February 2019

18 February 2019

Monitoring SQL Server Security: What’s Required?

If we know how a database is likely to be attacked, we can arrange our lines of defense, and install the monitors required to detect any attempts. However, some types of attack are difficult to imagine, so we also need our monitoring tool to be adaptable, so that it… Read more

14 February 2019

14 February 2019

How to create and refresh development and test databases automatically using SQL Clone and SQL Toolbelt

A PowerShell automation script to build a SQL Server database from source control, seed it with dummy data, document it, and then deploy copies to any number of test and development servers. Read more

12 February 2019

12 February 2019

A Database Developer’s Guide to SQL Clone

Phil Factor explains how SQL Clone works, and its multiple benefits when used in daily development and testing work, as well as for other tasks such as training staff to use a new application. Read more

4 February 2019

4 February 2019

Monitoring the Application with Redgate Monitor: Website Activity

Using a PowerShell script that collects log data from a web server, plus a Redgate Monitor custom metric, Phil Factor offers a way to check for suspicious website errors and unusual patterns of activity, right alongside your database monitoring. Read more

23 January 2019

23 January 2019

Using a Variable-length Datatype Without Explicit Length: The Whys and Wherefores (BP007/8)

If you declare a variable-length string , or coerce a string, without specifying its length, you can fall foul of ‘silent’ string truncation. Some developers resort to using the (MAX) specification, which is a mistake too. Phil Factor explains the dangers and then offers a workaround for the problem, when… Read more

SQL code analysis