2018 on Andy M Mallon - AM²

Using PowerShell to tidy up CSV files

Fri, 28 Dec 2018 13:31:18 -0500

I was recently fussing with a CSV file that had an inconsistent number of columns. UGH. There was a bunch of historical data that had 4 columns, and then more recent data had a new attribute added with 5 columns. I spent a few minutes cursing whoever was responsible, then moved on.

Working from home: Home office tour

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 11:08:10 -0500

About two years ago, I moved my home office down into the basement at our house. At the time, I was working from home two (sometimes three) days per week, and sharing a home office with my husband was starting to feel cramped. He was rarely working at the same time as me, but only half the space was mine. The basement has a large finished room that we weren’t using for anything else, so it was up for grabs. I painted my new office, and moved right in. This gave me a dedicated, and somewhat secluded place to work–no more worrying that my early morning call will disturb Ken while he sleeps on the other side of the wall, and less worry about getting interrupted during video calls.

Following up on the LGBTQ Meetup at PASS Summit

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 10:13:51 -0500

It’s been almost two weeks since the LGBTQ Meetup that I organized at PASS Summit, and I wanted to offer a bit of follow-up and commentary on the event. Why did I wait two weeks before writing this follow-up? Well, tomorrow is American Thanksgiving, so I wanted to take a moment to talk about how thankful I am for the community’s support.

Installation of SQL Server Express LocalDB 2017

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 14:14:51 -0500

Question

I want to install Microsoft SQL Server LocalDB 2017 on my system. I downloaded SQL Server Express Setup (about 5.1 MB). Then I opened it and chose 'Download Media' option and then chose LocalDB. Then it downloaded SqlLocalDB.msi setup (about 45.9 MB). I ran the setup and installed it on my computer. I don't know what to do next. Can someone help me, please?

how azure sql geo replication works internally?

Fri, 02 Nov 2018 10:22:13 -0400

Question

My company moved to azure and started to use azure Sql database and geo replication.

For our on-premise servers, we heavily rely on Microsoft transactional replication to move data. Now we setup transactional replication between on-premise server (publisher) and azure sql db. Then we found that the transactional replication itself is constantly consuming 100% DTU on azure(we are using a 125 DTU P1).

SQL Visual Studio Find and Replace in Publish Profile

Mon, 29 Oct 2018 20:48:28 -0400

Question

We have source control in Visual Studio Database Projects (SSDT). To make cross database references, we utilize something like this below in Project References.

We need Project references, since Otherdatabase, can choose between two options at our company. Most of the time, its 90% Database A, and 10% Database B.

How can I permanently remove replication by script if I only have access to the subscriber?

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 23:10:17 -0400

Question

We've been building a replication network of DBs to give us some degree of Always On without paying the full price tag. Currently we have a publisher DB which replicates to a handful of subscribers, so that if the publisher goes down, we can promote a subscriber to be the new publisher. As is, this is a tedious manual process, but we want to start scripting elements of it so that the process is quicker and closer to being automated.

I'm in a book! Data Professionals at Work

Sat, 13 Oct 2018 19:34:59 -0400

Back in January, I got a message from Malathi Mahadevan (blog) asking me if I would participate in a book she was working on. The book, Data Professionals At Work, is part of Apress Media's "...At Work" series. The book is an anthology of interviews with Microsoft-focused data professionals. I want to thank Mala again for inviting me to participate, and for all the effort she put into making this book happen. A number of us will be at PASS Summit this year, so keep an eye out for details on some book-related events at Summit!

The list of interviewees spans data professionals with a wide range of specialty and experience. There are Microsoft employees, DBAs, Developers, BI Developers, and more. With such a great list of contributors, just about every data professional will find some chapters familiar and other chapters an adventure in a different career.

Can't overwrite an existing Azure SQL Managed Instance database during restore

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 01:07:27 -0400

Question

We're working on migrating some SQL Server VMs to Azure SQL Managed Instances. We did an initial backup/restore without a problem:

RESTORE DATABASE [xxx] 
 FROM URL = 'https://<account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/<filename>.bak'

After doing testing, we now need to do a fresh restore from our SQL VMs. We started doing the same process we initially did but when restoring, we got an error:

LGBTQ Meetup at PASS Summit 2018

Mon, 08 Oct 2018 09:14:30 -0400

In 2016, I organized an (unofficial) PASS Summit LGBT Meetup. It was a bit of a last-minute party, and more than once I found myself saying, “Worst case scenario, I’ll end up having a chill cocktail party with some friends.” Turns out, I under estimated myself: I sold out of (free) tickets, the room was at full capacity, we raised over $3000 for The Trevor Project, and everyone had a great time.

Under what conditions could restore of a huge database get delayed, in SQL server 2016, hosted on VM?

Fri, 05 Oct 2018 11:14:09 -0400

Question

I have system where my database gets restored every night, and off late the restore is taking a lot longer from past few days.

Here is server config:

ES 2637 XEON @ 3.5 Ghz
Windows virtual server 2012 R2 hosted in a Hyper V environment
RAM: 128 GB
8 CPUs
Ethernet: 500 Kps Throughput
Virtual Memory
- Max Size:132,096 MB
- Available: 39,395 MB
- In Use: 92,701 MB

Version:

How Large Table before Using Clustered Columnstore Index

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:43:03 -0400

Question

At what size should we consider applying Columnstore Index on a table? Is there a SQL Server storage or design guidance?

Our Data Warehouse is 5TB total. Additionally, we have tables which are 100GB to 1TB which compose the database. Just curious if SQL Server has guidance on how large should table before a columnstore index is applied?

How do you SUM a column without having its name?

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 10:54:20 -0400

Question

I'm stuck in a way that how to do sum on a column let's say first column of a table (result from another query) without knowing the column name with something like column position id.

it's something like this

Who are the extra special people in your life?

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 09:28:34 -0400

Warning: This is not my typical blog post. It has nothing to do with databases, nor IT, nor even technology. However, it has everything to do with you, with your career, and with your success. I’ve decided to turn this exercise into a public blog post, but it is a deeply personal, raw blog post. I don’t expect others to share their thoughts publicly, but I encourage everyone to take some time and do this same exercise privately.

Webinar: Azure SQL DB Managed Instance--A New Path to the Cloud

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 10:00:44 -0400

On October 2, 2018 at 11PM EDT, I’ll be joined by John Q. Martin (blog) for a webinar on Azure SQL Database Managed Instance.

~~To sign up, register here.~~

You can access the recording of the session here.

Follow-up Q & A from the live session can be found here.

Webinar: Push Your App to Enterprise Scale with Advanced SQL Server Features

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 10:00:04 -0400

On August 28, 2018 at 2PM EDT, I’ll be joining Melissa Connors (blog), Kevin Kline (blog), and Rob Sewell (blog) for a webinar on advanced SQL Server features. The webinar centers around a real-life case study of technology SentryOne is using in it’s own database. I’ll be giving an overview of each of the features, and Melissa will cover how those features helped SentryOne boost performance. Kevin & Rob will be moderating

Performance Myths: The query result cache

Mon, 23 Jul 2018 10:48:11 -0400

I was recently doing a training session when a developer commented that it was OK to run an expensive query twice because on the second execution, SQL Server would use the “results cache” and be “practically free”. It’s not the first time I’ve heard someone refer to a “results cache” in SQL Server. This is one of those myths that is almost true, which makes it that much more believable. If you don’t know better, you might think SQL Server has a “results cache” because the second execution of a query is often faster.

SQLSaturday Louisville & Columbus: Let's Chat

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 15:51:21 -0400

Last week, I broke the news that I am joining the team at SentryOne as a Product Manager. Over the next two weekends, I’ll be speaking at two different SQLSaturday events: Louisville and Columbus. These will be my first two community events after joining the SentryOne team, and I have a big favor to ask. If you’ll be at either event, I want to talk to you — and not just at my sessions. I want to have some one-on-one conversations with users.

Removing [square brackets] from generated SSMS scripts

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 10:42:04 -0400

The number of people who really love having their code [quoted] with [square brackets] is pretty small. The vast majority of people who I meet really hate them, and promptly remove them.

If everyone hates them, why are they there?

If you’re generating CREATE/ALTER/DROP/etc scripts for objects, whether using SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Ops Studio, or PowerShell, those scripts are generated by SMO–the SQL Server Management Objects. SMO wants to [quote] everything.

TSQL Tuesday #104: dbo.Check_FileSize

Mon, 09 Jul 2018 23:18:12 -0400

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Bert Wagner (blog | vlog). The topic: Code You Would Hate To Live Without

It’s been a little bit since the last T-SQL Tuesday I joined, when I blogged about religion & politics (aka, Tabs vs Spaces). When I saw Bert’s excellent topic this month, I decided I’d try to get back on the horse again and do join the blog party again this month.

Hanging up my DBA cleats

Mon, 09 Jul 2018 10:00:52 -0400

Take the time to celebrate any #ChampagneMoment that life throws your way. Remember to toast your own accomplishments, big or small.

I’m no accidental DBA. Very shortly after I started working in tech, I realized that I wanted to be a DBA when I grew up. Eventually, I landed that DBA job, and have been a DBA ever since. I talk about my journey when I give my “How to get your dream job” talk (you can watch the recording here).

How to get your dream job - Webinar recording

Mon, 09 Jul 2018 09:30:58 -0400

I recently presented for the PASS Professional Development virtual group with my session “How to get your dream job: resume & job hunting tips.” When I’m speaking at SQLSaturdays and User Groups, I frequently meet people looking to advance their career, make a career change, or are just interested in how I got where I am. Earlier this year, I decided to turn that conversation into a 60-minute session. In addition to the one-on-one conversations, I can now do a one-to-many session to share my own experience and offer some additional advice to other data professionals.

Generating artificial CPU load 🔥

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 11:43:10 -0400

I was recently asked:

For testing, I need to generate artificial CPU load on the server, outside of SQL Server. Do you have any ideas? Maybe something with PowerShell?

I quickly replied:

Heck yea, PowerShell can do that.

I mean, I knew PowerShell could do it. I just didn’t know how.

Is that share using SMBv1?

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 13:26:28 -0400

In case you’ve missed it (though, if you’re a data professional or other IT pro, you must live under a rock if you’ve missed it), SMBv1 should never ever be used. Alas, some shares out there still exist & use it.

Recent Windows updates have tried to turn off SMBv1 , alas Microsoft’s Ned Pyle (blog) still maintains a long list of products that still need SMBv1.

Deadlock when creating a database - A Query Store bug

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 09:00:17 -0400

Earlier tonight, I sat down to install Reporting Services on my laptop. I haven’t played with SSRS 2017 yet, so I figured I’d poke around some. Much to my surprise, the configuration failed when creating the ReportServer database, reporting a deadlock. When I looked at the database instance, I found the ReportServer database there, but with no objects it in, and the ReportServerTempDB database missing.

Configuring Replication with Availability Groups

Fri, 23 Feb 2018 10:00:41 -0500

I’ve used replication and Availability Groups together before. Replication works great with an AG as both a publisher or a subscriber (though, not as a distributor–you can’t add the distribution database to an AG). I was surprised when I recently ran into a problem configuring replication on a database that was in an AG.

Using PowerShell to navigate SQL Server as a drive

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 12:33:04 -0500

I might be a SQL Server pro, but I’m still a PowerShell novice. I learn best by doing, so I keep pushing myself to do more with PowerShell so that I can learn more.

If you don’t already know this about the SqlServer PowerShell Module, you can access SQL Server via a path, as if it were a drive.

TSQL Tuesday #99: Tabs vs Spaces

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 07:02:30 -0500

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Aaron Bertrand (blog). The topic: Dealer's Choice (Door Number 2: Bad Habits)

When I was a kid, Choose Your Own Adventure books were overwhelming because I wanted to explore every possible option–some things never change. This month for T-SQL Tuesday, Aaron offers two blogging options and I’ve chosen to do both. “Door Number 1” is a challenge to write about what you do in your free time, inspired by Drew Furgiuele’s #sqlibirum post. That blog post is over here. This post is for the “Door Number 2” option is to talk about his Bad Habits series–I’ve opted to bring up a topic Aaron hasn’t blogged about: tabs vs spaces.

TSQL Tuesday #99: SQL Tourism

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 07:00:45 -0500

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Aaron Bertrand (blog). The topic: Dealer's Choice (Door Number 1: #sqlibrium)

When I was a kid, Choose Your Own Adventure books were overwhelming because I wanted to explore every possible option--some things never change. This month for T-SQL Tuesday, Aaron offers two blogging options and I've chosen to do both. "Door Number 1" is a challenge to write about what you do in your free time, inspired by Drew Furgiuele's #sqlibirum post. That blog post is below. My other post is for the "Door Number 2" option is to talk about his Bad Habits series--I've opted to bring up a topic Aaron hasn't blogged about: tabs vs spaces.

SQL Tourism? What’s that?

I made it the term, but it’s a very real thing. When I started travelling to speak at SQL Server events, I committed that I would make the most of it. To me, that means a lot more than just attending the event where I’m speaking. Sure, I want to learn and network at the event, but it means more than that, too. It means actually seeing the city where I’m speaking. It means enjoying the entire trip. It means making new friends, and connecting with old friends. Sometimes, it even means bringing my husband with me.

Updated shortcuts cheat sheet -- Now with Azure Data Studio

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 21:05:46 -0500

Updated (2018-09-24): SQL Ops Studio is now generally available, and has been renamed Azure Data Studio. I've updated the cheat sheet to reflect the name change, but the shortcuts remain the same. Feel free to grab the updated PDF with the new label, or keep the old one to prove your OG status.

Nearly two year ago, I first published my Shortcuts cheat sheet. Since then, thousands of people have downloaded it. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t expect it to be as much of a hit as it has been. When I give my one-hour talk in person, I bring card stock handouts of my cheat sheets, too. I also ask people for their favorite shortcuts, and I’ve learned some great new hidden gems.

Parsing file names from paths using T-SQL

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 07:00:40 -0500

SQL Server is great at a lot of things. I spend a lot of time blogging about all the cool things that SQL Server does. But (you knew there was a “but”, didn’t you) SQL Server isn’t great at everything. Lets write about something that SQL Server is bad at.

Finding active transactions

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 09:04:07 -0500

Have you ever forgot to commit a transaction? Maybe you’ve even left for lunch and caused a problem while you were gone. Uncommitted transactions can cause all sorts of problems–not just blocking, but it can affect your Availability Groups & Mirroring, your TempDB version store if you’re using one of the snapshot isolation levels.