30Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

SQL Server Standard Update

Misc, PASS
Just to keep people who might be interested up to date on what's happening with the SQL Server Standard relaunch. I've received some fantastic abstracts on a wide range of topics from a diverse group of SQL Server DBA's and Developers. From that, we've got a lot of articles in the hopper going through technical edits and second drafts. Three articles have made it all the way to copy edit. They should be done soon. I'm positive you'll see at least one of them, maybe two, before the PASS Summit. I need even more abstracts so I can publish even more articles. If you meet the qualifications to write for us, please submit an abstract to my PASS email address: grant.fritchey - at - sqlpass -dot- org (unobfuscate the obvious).…
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30Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey 27 Comments

Pre-Compiled Stored Procedures: Fact or Myth

SQL Server, T-SQL
There's a very common belief among DBA's: Stored procedures are pre-compiled. I had someone tell me all about it just last week. There are lots of sources that say what I'm getting ready to say, so this really shouldn't come as news to anyone,but it will. No, they're not. Stored procedures are not pre-compiled. When you create or update a stored procedure on the server, it gets a syntax check. But there is no compile process, let alone a pre-compile process. That stored procedure exists exactly as it is named, a procedure that is stored on the server. It's just a collection of TSQL code, possibly with some parameters, waiting to be called. Until it's called, it is not ready to be executed. Don't believe me? I'm not a huge…
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30Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Minor Celebration

Misc
A little cheap thrill for me. I passed 50,000 views on the blog yesterday. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to read my fumbling attempts to understand SQL Server better. I hope some of the posts have proved useful to you. I learn a lot from putting them together.
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29Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Vote for Mr. LaRock

PASS
It is rapidly coming up on election time at the Professional Association of SQL Server users (PASS). Once more, a person I respect and admire is running for office. Tom LaRock has been a volunteer with the organization longer than I have (I'm approaching four years) and for the entire time I've been involved he's been in the thick of things, working for the organization and working with the other volunteers. He does great work. He's presented at the Summit, three times I think, and he's presenting again this year. He's one of the people chiefly responsible for the new Virtual Chapters. He's been serving on the Board as an appointee. I think it's finally time to make it official and elect this great guy to the board. He'll do a good…
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24Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Recap of Cape Cod .NET User’s Group

PASS
I presented last night at the Cape Cod .NET User's Group. What a great bunch of people. About 20 people showed up at the nice facility they're using, Venture Think Together. A little pizza and a little chat and the meeting got started. Marcia McLean, their president, gave me a nice little introduction and I went through my slides. As I did them, I kept thinking about some of the advice offered up by Brent Ozar yesterday. Suddenly my slides seemed so wordy. It started to throw me off, but I just ignored it & plowed on. Overall, I think the presentation went well. I hit a couple of snags on some of the examples that I'm going to tweak before I present this at the PASS Summit in just…
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23Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Virtual Chapters

PASS
If you're not a member of the Professional Association of SQL Server users, PASS, why not? No, I'm sorry. I meant to say, If you're not a member of PASS, you may not have heard about the change between special interest groups and the new Virtual Chapters. What used to be the SIG's has been repurposed, rebuilt and, let's say it, reborn, as Virtual Chapters. There's a whole new energy and all new web sites with content and presentations and more free training than you can shake a stick at. There are great opportunities to begin networking, and we all know how important that is as a means of career building. It's like having a really vibrant, active, useful user's group available 24/7. Get on over and check out the offerings…
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22Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Cape Cod .NET Users Group

PASS
Tomorrow night, Wednesday, September 23, I'm going to present on "Best Practices for Working with SQL Server Execution Plans" for the Cape Cod .NET User's Group.  It's basically a rehearsal for the presentation that I'll be doing at the 2009 PASS Summit in just 5 weeks. Can you believe it's already almost here? I'm so jazzed. This year is going to be a great summit. I can't wait to see everyone again... I... Where was I, oh yeah, come down to Hyannis if you can make it. It should be a fun evening. Not quite as good as the Summit, but a good time.
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22Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Gila Monster on Estimated vs. Actual Row Counts

SQL Server, T-SQL
I don't generally do lots of blog aggregation and cross post linking & stuff. It's just not something I'm that into. However, this time is an exception. Gail Shaw, Gila Monster to those who hang on out SQL Server Central, has posted an excellent explanation of times when Estimated and Actual row counts vary for a reason. I'm one of those who emphasises that differences between estimated & actual is an indication of... something. It could be out of date or missing statistics or it could be caused by query language like multi-statement table valued functions, but it's usually and indication of a problem. Except when it's not. Read Gail's explanation for more.
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21Sep 2009 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Identifying Frequently Running Queries

SQL Server, T-SQL
It's not enough to look at the longest running query. What if you have two queries, one runs for 5 minutes and the other runs for 5 seconds. Which do you tune? The first one, of course. But, let's add a little information to our thought experiment. The one that runs for 5 minutes is called 2AM, your local time, when there are almost no users on the system and the one that runs for 5 seconds is called 40 times a minute all day long. Now, which one do you tune? That's right, suddenly that 5 second query takes on a HUGE significance based on how often it's called. But how do you know how often a query is called? The easiest way to gather that information is not…
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