Whatever development methodology you use, you must check on the quality of the code before releasing a version of a database. This isn’t just a general check for ‘technical debt’ or code smells; you must also make sure that queries are not hogging resources on the server. A common crime is the unnecessary overuse of Read more
If you’re using SQL Server’s Read Committed Snapshot Isolation level (RCSI), to avoid long waits for a blocked resource, caused by transactions being held open for too long, then you’ll want to monitor for possible side effects. Usually, the overhead of using RCSI is not significant compared to the performance benefits of alleviating blocking, but Read more
Deadlocks can occur when two or more sessions inside of the database engine are waiting for access to locked resources held by each other. Technically, a deadlock can be viewed as a circular locking chain, because every process (SPID) in the blocking chain will be waiting for one or more other processes in that same Read more
Today Microsoft released the public preview of Azure SQL Database Managed Instances – an exciting new option for running SQL Server workloads in the cloud. I’m pleased to say that initial support for this new offering is already available across the development tools in Redgate’s SQL Toolbelt, as well as in SQL Monitor. This support Read more
There is nothing wrong with the principle of using ad-hoc queries; one can use them occasionally and perfectly legitimately. However, when ad-hoc queries run as part of a processes that does database operations iteratively, row-by-agonizing-row, they can be one of the most unremitting ways of sapping the performance of a SQL Server instance. You need Read more
The increasing size of SQL Server databases, alongside the growing complexity of SQL Server estates, is making more organizations realize the need for a tool that enables proactive monitoring. Hand-rolled scripts can provide basic information, like wait stats and memory utilization, but that’s often not enough. With the database a key element of business operations, Read more
In recent weeks, the IT industry has learned of two serious processor vulnerabilities, Meltdown and Spectre, which an attacker can exploit to obtain information to which they should not have access: specifically, information cached in the operating system kernel’s private memory. I’ve included references at the end, for in-depth technical descriptions of the vulnerabilities, which Read more
If you’re working with SQL Server, one of the most appealing features of cloud-based computing services, such as Azure and AWS, is that they make it so much easier to design systems that are both highly-available and offer disaster recovery. No longer do you have to worry about the myriad issues arising from setting up Read more
The SQL Monitor team are hard at work, improving how you manage your alerts. We’re currently researching whether the ability to see similar alerts grouped together (akin to the threaded email view you see in Gmail or Outlook) might address the common problems we hear on research calls, and on the SQL Monitor UserVoice page. Read more
Static code analysis parses the source code, checking the syntax for compliance with a built-in set of rules. These rules are designed to encourage good coding practices and, applied during development and testing work, help you minimize the number of ‘code smells’ that creep into your application and database builds. For SQL, these ‘smells’ could Read more
