SQL Server 2016 – Database mail queued but not sending

Have you installed SQL Server 2016, enabled Database Mail and not been able to send a test email?  Does the email queue show a list of queued mail items but no entries in the Database Mail log?  This may help. I installed SQL Server 2016 with CU1, used a domain user as the owner of the SQL Server accounts and gave that domain user local administrator privileges. I turned on database mail and created a profile and email account to… Continue reading

A quick look at MongoDB – part 1

NoSQL databases are all the rage lately, with some touting them as the demise of the traditional RDBMS.  I don’t share that view, but thought it worthwhile to begin exploring the new technologies.  A coworker of mine had gone through a seven week online course for MongoDB through MongoDB University (https://university.mongodb.com/) and was very happy with the outcome, so I thought I’d give it shot, also. The course was free and took 2 – 4 hours a week to complete…. Continue reading

SQL Saturday #540 in Sacramento CA – silky smooth…

Another year in the books, another amazingly successful event!  SQL Saturday #540 in Sacramento was our 5th endeavor and was arguably our best effort.  No law enforcement involvement, no fires or natural disasters and no one leaving dissatisfied. This year boasted an international speaker lineup; it was great to meet Cathrine Wilhelmsen (B|T) from Norway.  We had a good showing of first timer speakers to Sacramento, thanks to Simon Cho (B), Anthony Nocentino (B|T), Reeves Smith (B|T), Bill Fellows (B|T),… Continue reading

SQL Saturday #312 – Sacramento, CA

SQL Saturday #312 will be held July 12, 2014 in Sacramento CA, our third annual event.  I’ve chosen to join my Sacramento SQL Server user group board members and participate in a “lightning talk”, outlining a how to grant permissions to users through the signing of stored procedures.  It’s a great topic and can be put into use very easily and quickly, with a good bang for your buck. Mitch Bottel (B|T), Dilip Nayak (T) and Joe Simmons (T) will… Continue reading

T-SQL Tuesday #049: What’re we waitin’ fer?!?!?

Had to channel my inner Mickey for the title of the post…Rocky II is one of the first movies that I remembering seeing as a re-run on cable…but I digress. When I read Robert’s post and subject for this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, my mind immediately went to one of my first experiences with wait stats, as it was a very poignant “ah-HAH!” moment for me.  I was an administrator for several SQL Server instances and had been doing it for a while,… Continue reading

T-SQL Tuesday #047 – The stuff we all get!

My story isn’t so much about quality as it is about quantity. PASS Summit 2011 was my first time attending that most of awesome of events and I was a bright eyed noob.  I had no idea what to expect and was already a bit overwhelmed with travel accommodations, light rail rides and hotel check-in.  Walking into the Tuesday night welcome reception did nothing to ease the nerves. At the reception was my first “score”, a blue umbrella.  After the reception… Continue reading

SQL Saturday #190 – B-I-N-G-O spells “murder”

When an event like SQL Saturday #190 in Denver is announced, people listen.  Speakers such as Steve Jones (B|T), Wendy Pastrick (B|T), Tim Ford (B|T) and Tim Mitchell (B|T) draw crowds.  When I found out that I was chosen to speak, I was ecstatic. My topic was boring ol’ SQL Server encryption but I decided to try and spice it up with a variation of “buzzword” Bingo.  I created a 3×3 playing card with phrases and pieces of code from the… Continue reading

Find SQL Server services running on a remote server using Powershell

You’re given a list of Windows servers and told they host multiple SQL Server instances.  How do you find which services are running?  Use Powershell:   get-service mssql* -computername myServer   It will give a nice list of services that have MSSQL at the beginning of their names: Status Name DisplayName Running MSSQL$INSTANCE2 SQL Server(INSTANCE2) Running MSSQLSERVER SQL Server(MSSQLSERVER) Stopped MSSQLServerADHe… SQL Server Active Directory Helper Stopped MSSQLServerADHe… SQL Active Directory Helper Service A shorter version: gsv mssql* -cn myServer

SQL Saturday #190 – Dude, where’s my keys???

This weekend marks my first time attending a SQL Saturday outside of my home state of California.  It also marks my second presentation opportunity at a SQL Saturday.  Come see “SQL Server encryption 3 ways – in transit, at rest and in the database” in Denver, CO at SQL Saturday #190. I’ve given this talk a few times already but am going to put a new spin on this one: buzzword bingo. You may remember the IBM commercial where the… Continue reading

T-SQL Tuesday #046 – Rube Goldberg in order to SQL Server

My first T-SQL Tuesday post and am I excited!  My story is going to vary slightly from the original subject in that I’m going to outline a Goldberg machine that was created in order to CONNECT to SQL Server, showing how much my former employer valued the Microsoft database.  Thanks to Rick Krueger (@DataOgre|B) for a great way to tell some fun IT stories. MPE – IMAGE/SQL Flash back to the ’80s where a young man creates a general ledger accounting… Continue reading