Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Am I a sysadmin? (or other SQL Server role)

    How do you check if you are a sysadmin? It’s fairly easy to do in Management Studio. You can go to Security \ Server Roles \ Sysadmin, as shown here:

    sysadmin1

    You right click sysadmin and click properties to get a list of sysadmins. You can do this for any role, and that’s the easy way if you want to verify permissions.

    sysadmin2

    What if you have an open connection to the server, say in a Query window or Powershell session and want to verify your role. There’s a function to help you: Is_SrvrRoleMember().

    If you execute something like this: 

    SELECT IS_SRVROLEMEMBER('sysadmin');

    You’ll get a one back if you are a member of that role, and a 0 otherwise. That will allow you to easily determine your current permissions, or check permissions programatically and continue on with your work depending on the results.

  • How to Fix Connect

    Microsoft Connect is the place to submit feedback

    The Connect system is the main way that all of us can feed back information on SQL Server to Microsoft . You can use this system to submit a bug or a suggestion, and your submission will go to the SQL Server development team so that they can respond. There is the ability to comment on other people’s posts, view workarounds that Microsoft or another user have posted, and vote a suggestion up or down. A great example that’s one of the most voted on items is the Create or Replace idea.

    Recently a large number of Connect items were closed, including a few that I had submitted. Based on all the Twitter comments, it seems that most of these items were closed and marked as “Won’t Fix”, which I assume means these will not be fixed for SQL 11.

    That’s good and bad. Having watched the Connect Feed for SQL Server, I’m surprised by some of the suggestions that I see come through. While I can appreciate someone wanting to know when SQL 11 “Denali” will be released, I’m not sure it’s worth a Connect submission. Or this brilliant duplicate indexes note. I feel bad for the people that triage these requests since these not-very-well-thought-out submissions create ill will and waste time. How would you like to get these type of suggestions for your software? My guess is most of these suggestions ought to be closed and this was a good thing.

    But it’s also discouraging for those of us that submit feedback and don’t necessarily get a good response on why our feedback doesn’t make sense, especially when you have dozens of people voting for the idea.

    For a long time I really liked the SQLWish email address where one could send ideas to Microsoft. That was discontinued in favor of Connect, which I think is a good idea. However I think Connect has a scale problem and doesn’t necessarily work as well for “ideas” as it does for bugs.

    I’m not sure how we can fix it, but one thing I’d like to see is a ranking of the top xx items that could be considered for the next version. Feed that back to the community and let us give you opinions on whether or not those items are still important. I know we can’t necessarily drive development, but I do think that SQL Server can evolve into a product that we are more likely to upgrade if our feedback is visibly and obviously considered.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • SQL Saturday #63 PPT

    The PowerPoint deck from my presentation is here if you want it

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Presentations/70959/

    – Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

  • Travel woes

    I am trying to get better at this travel thing, I really am.

    I should have known there would be a problem when I missed the turn of the George Bush expressway for DFW. I took the next exit and my phone was showing a short side street back to my route. When I stumbled on a gas station at the corner I thought things were looking up.

    On the first try I had the rental on the wrong side of the pumps so I moved it. Then I it out of my GMC Terrain, looking for a fuel release. None there so I walked around the car to the fuel door. I pushed and pulled but it didn’t open. OK, I didn’t see the release, so back around to find it.

    Can’t find it.

    I check both sides of the car, the trunk, even inside the back door on that side. Finally I Google the car and find it’s a press one side hard and release. I try that, feeling like an idiot, get it open and fuel. As I get back to my route there’s nothing by the DFW entrance, so again I think that I got lucky finding the gas station.

    Turn in the rental ad ride to the terminal. I’ve prepped well, no checked bags, everything ready to carry on, checked in the night before with my mobile boarding pass. Walk right to security, try to scan my pass

    Annoying beep

    Look at the phone and it’s trying to connect to TMobile on wifi. Turn that off, try to rescan, same result. Turn it a few times to be sure the bar code is right and same result. The security guy is nice but kicks me out of line.

    The kiosk tells me to find an agent, so I do. I give her my ID and flight and she goes, oh yeah, that’s a new flight starting today.

    From Love field.

    30-45 minutes away and I am at DFW. As Mentally curse the web programmers that gave me to selection to return from Love (DAL) after I has selected an inbound flight to DFW, I get the “I can put you on the 3:30pm to Denver and you can standby on the 11:30” speech. I can’t make love field with about 50 minutes until my flight leaves so I take it.

    At least there’s a Starbucks here and I can sit in the Samsung traveler lounge and plug in my computer and phone.


    Bad luck this week traveling after a 2 hour delay getting home from Orlando and now the wrong airport in Dallas.

    To top it off I got this when powering on the laptop


    I am glad that I am shutting down all travel until June after this.

    – Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

    Location:International Pkwy,Irving,United States