Finding Inactive SQL Server Databases

Phil Factor demonstrates how to identify objects in a database that are not being used. The technique uses Extended Events to detect acquisition of Intent locks, and so determine which databases are active or apparently 'dormant', and then drills down to investigate on which tables data has been modified recently, and which views and stored procedures have been run. Read more

Ten Reasons your SQL Server Monitoring will Scale

This article explains ten ways that SQL Monitor tackles the problem of scaling out the coverage of a single, lightweight monitoring system, and so allows your teams to maintain the health and performance of larger collections of databases and higher numbers of monitored SQL servers. Read more

Getting your SQL Server Development Data in Three Easy Steps

Phil Factor takes a staged approach to generating development data, creating one project that simply copies data from an existing database, another that copies most data but generates any personal or sensitive data, and a third that starts from 'anonymized' data and then generates other columns entirely and increase the number of rows for testing. Read more

The Joy of Realistic Generated Fake Database Data

Have you ever had to demonstrate a database-driven application, and longed to have the real data to do so? To do what, precisely? Well, so you can then scroll through the customers who have used the system, demonstrate the accounting and audit, browse through the products, maybe even demo the customer tracking system with comments, complaints and so on. All this is possible, using realistic, fake data. Read more

Maintaining a Database Build Script with SQL Compare

Phil Factor explores a lesser-known capability of SQL Compare, which is to help you maintain a 'traditional', well-documented, single file build script, for creating the current version of the database during development. Read more

Database Deployments and Rocky Rollback Horrors: Where Does the New Data Go?

Phil Factor describes the problem of preserving data that is left 'in limbo' when you need to revert the database to a previous version that has no way of accommodating it. Read more

Monitoring Amazon RDS SQL Servers to Optimize Performance and Manage Costs

Israel Valverde explains the triple benefits of using Redgate Monitor to cover your SQL Server instances running on Amazon RDS, for SQL Server performance optimization, controlling AWS-hosting costs, and in providing a single, unified view of the health of all your SQL Servers, regardless of where they are hosted. Read more

Database Build Blockers: Four-part Object References

Cross-server references keep cropping up as a problem for development and build. Phil Factor demonstrates how using linked server 'aliases' can get around these issues, even if the individual databases use four-part references within the code rather than synonyms. Read more

Database Updates: Roll Back or Fix Forward?

Phil Factor's take on the best ways to reverse or accelerate your way out of the problems caused by a failed database update. Read more

Sharing SQL Code Snippets with Coworkers, The World and Yourself

Louis Davidson explains how he manages and shares several different sources of SQL Prompt code snippets, in a single Snippet library, using Dropbox and source control. Read more

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