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 […]
Tag: sql server
Why Test SQL Server Backups
For a lot of us data professional types, this seems like a silly topic, however I constantly hear of companies that aren’t testing their backups by restoring them, or don’t have proper backups at all.
There Is Insufficient Free Space on Disk Volume To Create the Database
I have been involved in countless database migrations. Most of the time I have access to the existing source servers and future destination servers. In cases where you have access to both environments, it is very easy to evaluate and clean up any issues with the source databases. In situations where you are only provided […]
Getting Started With SQL Server Always Encrypted
Azure SQL Database and SQL Server 2016 introduced a new security feature for SQL Server databases called Always Encrypted. Always Encrypted is a feature designed to protect sensitive data, such as national/regional identification numbers (Social Security numbers for those in the USA), credit card numbers, and other highly sensitive types of data. Always Encrypted allows […]
Dynamic Data Masking – SQL Server
Use Dynamic Data Masking to protect your data
What is Azure SQL
I get asked about Azure SQL very often. This is a topic that I’ve written about and taught many times. To be honest, this is a rather large topic that can go in many different directions. For this post, I want to cover what I consider the basics of Azure SQL. For me, that is […]
SQL Server Patching
Why should you patch your SQL Server instances? Compliance, stability, security, reliability, functionality, and more. Microsoft regularly releases updates to SQL Server known as Cumulative Updates (CUs). Cumulative updates often contain security updates that address vulnerabilities in additional to performance and reliability improvements to SQL Server. There are also bug fixes that are often included […]
Why You Should Test Your SQL Server Backups
My number one reason that you should test your backups is to make sure you know how to restore/recover. The absolute worst time to learn how to restore is when a restore is needed. By regularly testing your backups, you build up muscle memory in how to recover. By regularly validating your restore solution, you’ll […]