Getting locked out of a SQL Server instance can happen due to a number of situations. The most common scenario I’ve encountered is when a SQL Server is moved from one domain to another without the domain being trusted or having a local SQL admin account. I recently encountered another incident where a DBA was […]
Category: Backups/Recovery
Can You Restore Multiple Differential Backup Files?
Can you restore multiple differential SQL Server backups
How To Restore Change Data Capture – CDC Tables When Restoring a SQL Server Database
I have recently had the privilege of working with multiple clients who have been taking advantage of Change Data Capture “CDC”. Change Data Capture is a feature that utilizes SQL Server Agent to log inserts, updates, and deletes occurring in a table. It makes these data changes available to be consumed in a relational format. […]
How to Protect Against Ransomware as a DBA
Over the years I’ve been called in to work with numerous clients that were hit with ransomware. Even the times that the customer paid the ransom to unlock their encrypted files, there were still issues. Often times there were still issues with the files where they will not restore or data/log files can’t attach to […]
SQL Server Error 9002 – Full Transaction Log
A full transaction log can occur for a number of reasons. Typically it is due to the log not being truncated with regular transaction log backups, or something else not allowing the log to truncate. I often find Change Data Capture enabled and the jobs not running, SQL Server Replication in place and replication not […]
Msg 3140 – Could Not Adjust the Space Allocation for File
I often need to shrink database files. I know, ‘shrinking is bad’, however there are situations where it is very much needed. In my line of work, I come across databases that have been collecting data for year after year after year. One of the things I check for is the largest tables in databases. […]
Why You Need a SQL DBA or Consultant
Many organizations do not have in-house DBAs. This can be due to a number of reasons. Most commonly it is smaller organizations that cannot justify a full time DBA. Others are larger organizations that do more development work or organizations that run a lot of vendor supported software that don’t understand the value of having […]
Purging SQL Server Backup History
It seems like every few weeks I come across a database server with a very large msdb. After a small amount of investigation work, I determine that the largest tables consuming the most space are all related to backup history. I typically only keep 30 days of backup history but I’ve seen as little as […]