Back for more I see!! Well glad you’ve come back to round three where we are going to make a few more minor adjustments to our container and run our first shell script.
Make sure your container is running by executing the following command in your command prompt window: docker ps
If you don’t see the name of your container you can simple run this command docker start NAMEOFYOURCONTAINER in the command prompt.
So here we are back for Part 2 (I highly recommend you read Part 1 if you haven’t yet). In this post we are going to start configuring our containers and our SQL Instances to make them a little more functional and useful. In the first post, we really just created the containers with all the default settings. That means that all the storage is going to be inside the container. If it is deleted, the storage goes with it. So instead, to make the container more robust and upgradable, we are going to map some local storage on my host machine.
Let’s first take a look at the way I have my disk/folder structure laid out. Again, this is on my personal computer so it’s not a best practice for production and more suitable for development environments.
For each container, I’m creating a separate folder with the MSSQL paths that I need to put my databases, transaction log, and backup files on. Additionally, under the DockerMount folder I have a folder called sqldockershared (which I will put some shared content in later).
Recently, with the help of a colleague at work, I’ve started to dabble a little with containers. I had a customer that requested some specific code to be tested, and I realized that I didn’t have my own local instance of SQL running (always good to have a local one). I decided to try to make this process easier instead of going the traditional route of creating a Virtual Machine and also to help me learn a new technology. In these series of posts, I’m going to document my process of creating a Mini Data Lab for SQL Server on my desktop using Docker. It is intended to be for beginners and in no way is an article for best practices or production deployments.
Read the rest of this entry »Finally the arrival of Part 3 of my SQL Snack Pack on Performance Tuning! The series is dedicated to help beginners understand how to start performance tuning with SQL Server. The first video was about performing a baseline using the PAL tool.I would highly recommend you review that video as well as my SQL Snack on Instant File Initialization. Also, if you missed part two from yesterday you can review it here.
If you are still interested in learning more about Performance tuning with SQL Server, I will be giving an hour long presentation with the PASS DBA Fundamentals Virtual Chapter on January 6, 2015 (11 am Central Time/Noon Eastern Time). For more information please visit http://dbafundamentals.sqlpass.org/ and join PASS for a great way to learn more about SQL Server.
Code from Demo below:
![[SQL Snacks Video] Performance Tuning 102 – Files, FileGroups, and TempDB](https://thesqlpro.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/sql-snacks.jpg?w=150 "[SQL Snacks Video] Performance Tuning 102 – Files, FileGroups, and TempDB")
Finally the arrival of Part 2 of my SQL Snack Pack on Performance Tuning! The series is dedicated to help beginners understand how to start performance tuning with SQL Server. The first video was about performing a baseline using the PAL tool.I would highly recommend you review that video as well as my SQL Snack on Instant File Initialization. This second video discusses the importance of properly sizing Data files, placement, and how the Proportional Fill-Algorithm works for data insertion. I’m hoping you get some last minute Performance tuning in before 2015 and so I will be posting the third video within the next 24 hours.
Code from Demo below:
![[SQL Snacks Video] Performance Tuning 101 – Baseline with PAL Tools](https://thesqlpro.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/nissan_ga16de_engine.jpg?w=150 "[SQL Snacks Video] Performance Tuning 101 – Baseline with PAL Tools")
Welcome to Part 1 of my SQL Snack Pack on Performance Tuning! The series is dedicated to help beginners understand how to start performance tuning with SQL Server. This first video describes how to setup a baseline for your system using the PAL tools. It is essential to get a baseline before you start performance tuning so that you can determine how effective the efforts done in trying to tune your SQL Server have been. The PAL tools at first look a little intimidating but they are really very easy to use and extremely helpful for performance analysis. Enjoy and happy baselining!
A special thanks to Edgardo Valdez for showing me the how to use this tool.
Link to download PAL Tools and Prerequisites: https://pal.codeplex.com/
Less than a week left and I’m extremely excited about SQL Saturday in Philly on June 7th, 2014 and the Precon the day before (I signed up for Allan Hirt’s). I lived in Philadelphia for about 10 years during which I went to college, had my first two full-time jobs, and my first to kids were born in that area. This SQL Saturday is going to be a blast from the past for me. The actual event takes place in Malvern PA which is off of 202 in the Northwestern Region of the Philadelphia suburbs. It is part of the “mainline” and close to Valley Forge, King of Prussia and other historic/tourist attractions. I used to work in the Mainline area for Johnson Matthey in Wayne (and part time in Malvern) so I’m very excited about taking this trip back to visit friends and family.
For those of you that don’t know about SQL Saturday it is a fantastic event. Here are some of the reasons I’ve encouraged people to attend SQL Saturday events:
It’s that time of the year again when SQL Saturday makes its way back to the Washington DC Area. Here is a link to register and to get all the details you need http://www.sqlsaturday.com/233/eventhome.aspx. I hope to meet a lot of new SQL Server professionals this year. Last year, I met a gentleman that now works with me, so as you can see networking pays off 🙂
Now this year’s SQL Saturday is a little different for me because I will be one of the speakers! I am very excited, as well as a little nervous. I think having some nervousness helps me prepare because I mentally tell myself “makes sure you know what you are talking about so you don’t look like an idiot!” My topic will be about the fundamentals of Backup and Recovery with SQL Server. It is targeted towards beginners and here is a brief abstract:
Backup and Recovery are essential parts of and DBA’s job. After all, if you lose your data you lose your job so you need a great backup strategy. In this session we will cover Recovery Models, Backup Types, Backup Strategy, Restores, RTO, RPO, and understanding how your Transaction Log is maintained through backups.
Finally, I wanted to share my thoughts on some of the other interesting sessions that are being held that I will be trying to attend. My disclaimer is that there are so many really great sessions that it is almost impossible to pick sometimes.
For those of you that attended yesterday and are interested in the slides, you can download them here.
Thanks!
Topic:
SQL Server Internals Party: Storage, Memory and the Query Life-cycle
Abstract:
Come meet the Internals of SQL Server at this special get-together! In this presentation we will cover the basics of data storage and querying with SQL Server. We will cover how data is stored in pages and extents and how that translates to data reads/writes with the storage system. Additionally, we will explore how different queries are processed by SQL Server and how the query life cycle works in general. Finally we will cover disk storage and memory and tie it all together. This session is intended to be broad and to give a general overview of how a query is processed in SQL Server and how storage and memory play a part in that. Everyone is invited to this introductory level presentation and should be appealing to DBAs, DB & BI Developers and System Administrators. Party hats not included, rated G for Geeks.
People are always concerned about Security when it comes to their data. I don’t blame them, I love keeping my job and I love to protect the sensitive data we store. You also don’t want someone with little SQL skills going in and running huge queries that bring the server to a screeching halt. In all honesty though, security has a HUGE aspect that is outside the realm of anyone’s technical expertise, it’s the “social factor” of security that is tricky.
If you’re in the DC/Baltimore area, or just feel like coming to DC to learn about SQL Server, please join me for my presentation on SQL Server Internals. The date is Thursday October 10, 2013 at 6:30PM at the Microsoft Building in Chevy Chase. For more details please visit http://passdc.sqlpass.org/
Topic:
SQL Server Internals Party: Storage, Memory and the Query Life-cycle
Abstract:
Come meet the Internals of SQL Server at this special get-together! In this presentation we will cover the basics of data storage and querying with SQL Server. We will cover how data is stored in pages and extents and how that translates to data reads/writes with the storage system. Additionally, we will explore how different queries are processed by SQL Server and how the query life cycle works in general. Finally we will cover disk storage and memory and tie it all together. This session is intended to be broad and to give a general overview of how a query is processed in SQL Server and how storage and memory play a part in that. Everyone is invited to this introductory level presentation and should be appealing to DBAs, DB & BI Developers and System Administrators. Party hats not included, rated G for Geeks.
Date/Time: October 10, 2013 @ 6:30PM
Location:
Microsoft Technology Center
5404 Wisconsin Ave. Ste. 700
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
On July 10th 2013, I gave a presentation with the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) DBA Fundamentals Virtual Chapter. The topic was Indexing Fundamentals and there were some questions that we did not have time to answer. I have combined similar questions and given one answer to cover the specific topic.
If you missed the presentation, you can click HERE to see the recording.
Abstract:
Indexing is an integral part of SQL Performance and Architecture. In this presentation we will cover the basics of Clustered and Non-Clustered Index structure and function. Additionally, we will discuss the B-Tree structure, index density (fill factor), page splits, and performance considerations. Finally, there will be a brief discussion of index maintenance.
**This Session has been rescheduled for July 10th @ Noon EST (16:00 UTC)**
On July 10th 2013 @ Noon EST (16:00 UTC) I will be giving a presentation with the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) DBA Fundamentals Virtual Chapter. Entrance is free as always and details can be found at http://fundamentals.sqlpass.org.
Code, Slides, and other information about the presentation will be under the Presentations section of this site afterward. Hope to see you there!
Abstract: Indexing is an integral part of SQL Performance and Architecture. In this presentation we will cover the basics of Clustered and Non-Clustered Index structure and function. Additionally, we will discuss the B-Tree structure, index density (fill factor), page splits, and performance considerations. Finally, there will be a brief discussion of index maintenance.
Ever wanted to know the reason behind the Database color scheme in SQL Server Management Studio?
I have always wondered why all the Databases in management studio were Yellow (Online), Grey (Read-Only), Lighter Yellow with text next to it (something like Restoring), or Yellow with a Red Icon (Offline). Have you ever wondered why there aren’t any more useful colors like Red for when a Transaction Log is Full or Purple when your Statistics are Outdated. I have a theory on this that I have entitled “The Theory that you have to actually work to call yourself a DBA.”
Everyone’s favorite four letter word is back, FREE! Yes, it is time I gave back to the community since I’ve been mooching off them them for so long. I’ve put together a short Installation Guide for those interested in getting their feet wet with SQL Server. I’m trying to encourage those that have no experience to get a little curious and try to install SQL Server and play with it. Maybe afterward you can even try to set up your own Clustered SQL Server Virtual Lab with Hyper-V. Just trying to rub off some of the enthusiasm and passion, did it work?
Anyway you can view the guide Here on Google Docs or Download it Here as PDF. It is just a first draft, so please feel free to add your suggestions or point out mistakes and I will try to fix it ASAP.
You can also read it right off of this page… check it out by clicking “Read the rest of this entry”
This is my first time attending a SQL Saturday event and I’m quite excited. If you live in or near the D.C. Metro area I hope to see you there. If you have not registered, you still have a chance:
http://sqlsaturday.com/173/eventhome.aspx
I’ve put together a short list of the sessions that I am planning to attend with some brief reasons why. Hope to see you all there!
Every wonder who all your orphaned SQL Server users are on your server? Just run the script below and copy the results of the query into a new query window then execute them. Make sure you keep the spacing and the quotes as they are so that the Dynamic SQL generated is free of Syntax errors.
USE master
SELECT 'USE '+ name+ ' EXEC sp_change_users_login ''Report'' '
FROM sys.databases
WHERE name not in ('master','msdb','model','distribution','tempdb')
ORDER BY name
But wait a minute, I only know which orphaned users are on my server. I want to actually fix them! Ok, ok relax, I have the solution for that just keep reading.
Good way to find a column being used in a stored procedure rather quickly.
You maybe wondering what the heck Windows 2012 release has to do with my blog. Well for starters, SQL Server is mainly installed on Windows; bet you didn’t see that coming! Part of any good DBA’s skill set is that they have some understanding of how Windows Server works and can install and configure it quite well. It is also essential to understand the licensing structure and cost so you know how much money you are going to dish out to buy that new server you want. Knowing costs also helps when budgeting and planning for upgrades, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
The SQL Pro 