SQL Saturday #222 – Another successful endeavor

  By | Sacramento SQL Server user group, SQL Saturdays
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The second annual SQL Saturday held in Sacramento was another smashing success! With an updated venue and an international speaker list, attendees were given a full day of FREE training in everything SQL Server. Enabled by our sponsors’ generosity, the Sacramento SQL Server users group was able to host a fantastic event. Led by our user group president Mitch Bottel (B|T), the planning committee took the success of year one and began to navigate through the planning process, beginning in… Continue reading →

Running .sql files from within the Query Editor using SQLCMD mode

  By | SQL Server general, SQL Server w/o the GUI
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As a DBA, I have a plethora of queries that I run on a consistent basis, commands that give me information about who’s connected to the instance, how mirroring is performing, what types of permissions a user has, etc.  Early in my career I began cataloging these queries.  My first file was called ‘useful_sql.txt’ (I still have it to this day) and it grew longer with each learned action.  I’d open up SSMS, click the folder icon to open the… Continue reading →

SQL Saturday #222 coming to Sacramento CA on July 27, 2013

  By | Sacramento SQL Server user group, SQL Saturdays
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The Sacramento SQL Server users group is happy to announce the second annual SQL Saturday in Sacramento to be held on July 27, 2013.  Our schedule boasts five tracks with six sessions in each track, adding up to 30 speakers coming from all parts of the globe.  We will be well represented with local talent, filling 20% of the speaking duties.  In addition to the all-star lineup on Saturday, Kalen Delaney (@sqlqueen) will be doing a pre-conference workshop on Friday, July… Continue reading →

SQL Saturday #144 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

  By | Sacramento SQL Server user group, SQL Saturdays
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SQL Saturday #144 is over but what a great time it was!  Sacramento’s first SQL Saturday boasted close to 200 attendees and showcased great speakers like Steve Jones (@way0utwest) and Kalen Delaney (@sqlqueen).  We were represented with local talent Mitch Bottel (@SacSQLdude), Helen Norris (@hpnorris), Jon Amen (@dungeongurunet), Eric Freeman (@sqlelf), Tom Keller (@tomkeller02) and Angel Abundez (@angelstreamline)…and there were COWBELLS!  In November of 2011 members of the Sacramento SQL Server user group banded together to begin planning the event.  Using documentation from… Continue reading →

My first SQL Server presentation – database mirroring w/ Transparent Data Encryption

  By | Sacramento SQL Server user group, SQL Server general
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I’ve finally cut my teeth on a technical, public presentation on SQL Server. This wasn’t explaining to a bunch of co-workers and managers about the latest features in SQL Server 2012.  It wasn’t sharing my understanding of whatever piece of Scripture we were studying in church.  It wasn’t addressing a group of parents about our team’s achievements over the last season.  This was a group of my peers who potentially knew as much or more about the subject matter and,… Continue reading →

SQLSaturday #144 coming to Sacramento CA on July 28, 2012

  By | Sacramento SQL Server user group, SQL Saturdays
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The Sacramento SQL Server users group is happy to announce that we’ll be organizing our own SQL Saturday event to be held in Sacramento on July 28, 2012. Check out http://sqlsaturday.com/144/eventhome.aspx for more details!

Another “Wait on the Database Engine Recovery handle failed” – SQL Server 2000 to 2008R2 upgrade

  By | Random errors and weird experiences
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I was given the task of upgrading our SQL Server 2000 instance to SQL Server 2008R2. I ran through the following steps to make sure the upgrade would be a success: Took a snapshot of the VM Upgraded to SQL Server 2000 service pack 4 Installed the updated Windows Installer 4.5 Launched the “System Configuration Checker” (found no issues) Ran the “Upgrade Advisor” and addressed all issues To this point, I figure I’m golden. Running the upgrade, it finishes with… Continue reading →

“In transit” encryption to SQL Server

  By | SQL Server general
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To encrypt connections to the SQL Server engine, there are a few options: IPsec, that encrypts the whole network packet SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) using “Force Encryption”, which only encrypts the packets sent to the database IPsec + SSL “In transit” encryption is the encryption of the data packets at the network level. IPsec does this well, but is set through the operating system and encrypts ALL packets that come and go to the server. If the network stream needed… Continue reading →

Simple restore using T-SQL

  By | SQL Server w/o the GUI
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Restoring your database is simple using T-SQL. I begin by using ‘RESTORE FILELISTONLY’ to get information about the files contained in the backup set. It returns a result set with information like ‘LogicalName’, ‘PhysicalName’, ‘FileGroupName’ and ‘Size’ (in 8K pages), among other things. You’ll use this information if you’re renaming or moving the .MDF or .LDF files contained in the backup set: RESTORE FILELISTONLY FROM DISK = ‘D:\MSSQL10_50.SANDBOX_2K8R2\MSSQL\BACKUP\TestDB\TestDB.bak’RESTORE FILELISTONLY FROM DISK = ‘D:\MSSQL10_50.SANDBOX_2K8R2\MSSQL\BACKUP\TestDB\TestDB.bak’ The output will be something like this:… Continue reading →

PASS Summit 2011 first timer, three days of awesomeness

  By | Random errors and weird experiences
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My first time attending the Professional Association of SQL Server Summit was amazing! Three days of great people, useful information and free stuff! I had to check an extra bag at the airport to bring home my loot. I arrived at the conference on Tuesday night, too late to attend the ‘first timer’ event. I registered, then headed towards the dimly lit exhibit hall, where a large crowd of participants were gathered. The complexity of the convention center, coupled with… Continue reading →