Chad Boyd

Try/Catch/Finally with Powershell

Chad Boyd — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:10:00 GMT

I ran across Adam Weigert's posting/script that provides a PoSh script that allows try/catch/finally like behavior - very cool. I started using the script myself and found that as much as I loved it, I wanted to add some additional 'features'...(read more)

Estimating Data Compression ratios for all...

Chad Boyd — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:41:00 GMT

One of my favorite features with SQL 2008 has been Data and Backup compression (which I discuss in more detail technically here ) - this is not only because of the actual functionality it brings to the table, but also because of all the technical intricacies...(read more)

Automate a Database Restore

Chad Boyd — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:19:00 GMT

It's quite common to see automated/custom procedures for backing up a database/log - nearly everywhere I go companies have custom backup procedures and processes to handle backups, logging of backups, naming standards, locations, etc. However, it's...(read more)

Installing Clustered SQL Servers - Outline, Checklists, Document Sheets

Chad Boyd — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:01:25 GMT

A high percentage of my interactions with clients revolve around clustering SQL Server in some manner or another - could be to review a high-availability solution, could be to stand up a new clustered instance of SQL, could be to troubleshoot a system...(read more)

Katmai (Sql 2008) - Transaction Logging Enhancements

Chad Boyd — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:36:00 GMT

Given some of the "larger" features being introduced with Sql 2008 which are getting lots of coverage and attention (understandably so), there are actually quite a few "smaller" features that are included which will provide a great...(read more)

SSD and SQL - Fragmentation Impact

Chad Boyd — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:40:00 GMT

In the last post on Solid State and it's impact on SQL Server operations , we looked at a variety of different IO patterns and sizes on multiple systems to see where and when SSD would help out and when it wouldn't. If you read the post and analyzed...(read more)

Partitioning Data for Query Performance - Where's the benefit?

Chad Boyd — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:08:00 GMT

I spend a lot of time interfacing with SQL engineers of all types (developers, dba's, architects, ETL engineers, etc.) and something I hear very frequently is "I want to horizontally partition my data to improve my query response times to customers"...(read more)

SSD and SQL - SQLIO performance

Chad Boyd — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:37:33 GMT

Let's start the SSD blogs off with a comparison of the SQLIO tool running on my laptop and compare the results to some other traditional spindle based systems. First, let's outline the systems we'll be comparing throughout the SSD blogs: First...(read more)

SSD and Me

Chad Boyd — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:15:00 GMT

I recently purchased 2 laptops with Solid State Drives in them (my loaded Dell XPS 1330 and my wife's Apple MacBook Air ), and I have to say, I will never, ever again own a computer that doesn't have a Solid State Drive in it (at least not until...(read more)

Custom Index Defrag / Rebuild Procedures

Chad Boyd — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:10:00 GMT

I often get asked for custom procedures to help with index maintenance, including things such as reorganizing, rebuilding, stats updates, etc. There are quite a variety of these out there today (a simple google search will get you a bunch), and all have...(read more)

Fragmentation Station - Stop #8 - Hands On Experience

Chad Boyd — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:34:00 GMT

In our final stop for the fragmentation series we're going to walk through a complete script that will cover almost everything we've discussed in the series, including: New object creation and allocation (heaps, clustered, non-clustered indexes...(read more)

Fragmentation Station - Stop #7 - How to address it

Chad Boyd — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:12:00 GMT

In our 2nd to last post in the Fragmentation series , we'll discuss our options on addressing and removing/correcting fragmentation. In our next and final post in the series, we'll end with a full-fledged SQL script that will walk you through...(read more)

Fragmentation Station - Stop #6b - Custom Detection Procedure, Page Linkage

Chad Boyd — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:41:00 GMT

In post #6 of the series, I mentioned that I often get asked for alternative methods of looking at fragmentation, a way to view the page chain or linkage, and ways to get insight into which pages are out of order in a given structure. There is nothing...(read more)

Fragmentation Station - Stop #6 - How to detect it

Chad Boyd — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:12:39 GMT

In our 6th post in the fragmentation series (I now know we are going to have 8 total) we are going to talk about the different ways to determine if you have fragmentation, and what type of fragmentation you have. This type of analysis will help you determine...(read more)

Fragmentation Station #5 - What it impacts (performance), and what it doesn't

Chad Boyd — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:15:03 GMT

In post #4 in the series, we talked about ways to avoid each type of fragmentation - in this 5th post in the series we'll discuss how each type of fragmentation impacts performance, what to expect in terms of impacted operations, and when you possibly...(read more)