Tag: sql server

Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers.

I’ve rarely dealt with database snapshots, outside of lab experimentation. They didn’t exist when I did most of my DBA work, and since then we haven’t seen the need for them at SQLServerCentral, though, I may suggest we add them to our deployment process since we can quickly roll back if something breaks.

However, I created one recently for a test and realized that I’d forgotten the syntax. Unlike the quick "create database xx" syntax I often use, with a snapshot I need to be more specific.

The big item that I must specify is the location of the snapshot file. This is the file that gets written to with the copy-on-write process that ensures the original state of the pages when the snapshot is created are still available.

You do need to give the database a logical name as well, which can be anything, but the reference below has suggestions. I’d say that this is bad:

CREATE DATABASE sandbox_snapshot
ON (NAME = MySnap
, FILENAME = ‘h:\SQL Server\MySnap.ss’
)
AS SNAPSHOT OF Sandbox

But this is better

CREATE DATABASE sandbox_snapshot_20150122_1345
ON (NAME = SandBox_Snap_20150122
, FILENAME = ‘h:\SQL Server\MySnap.ss’
)
AS SNAPSHOT OF Sandbox

Because the snapshot is based on an existing database, at a particular point in time, it’s useful to specify the time when the snapshot was created, if possible. While you can get this from metadata, if you have people that look to multiple snapshots for information, it can be handy to know when each is from.

However if you are providing this on a schedule, like daily, for people to report from, you might need to have the same name every day. Think about this, as you cannot rename a snapshot once it’s created.

SQLNewBlogger

When I realized I had to lookup the syntax, I took a few notes and captured code, which meant I combined this writing (< 10 minutes) with other work I was doing.

You should do the same. When you tackle something new, take screenshots, save code, and drop it in a OneNote/EverNote/etc notebook for your weekly blog writing.

Reference

The references I used:

• Create a Database Snapshot – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175876.aspx

Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers.

I ran across a question on network protocols recently, which is something I rarely deal with. Often the default setup for SQL Server is fine, but there are certainly times you should add or remove network connectivity according to your environment.

Here’s a short post on turning off (or on) a network protocol for SQL Sever.

What’s Enabled?

The easiest way to verify what’s enabled is to use the SQL Server Configuration Manager. You’ll need administrative permissions on the host to run this, but it’s easy to find.

Once you open it, typically you’ll have a list of the items that can be configured.

We want the SQL Server Network Configuration, which is the server level configuration for this host. The Client configurations are for the host being used a client to connect to a SQL Server.

As you can see here, I have Shared Memory and TCP/IP enabled for this instance, but Named Pipes disabled.

Disabling a Protocol

As you might expect, this is easy. I right click on a protocol, and I can change the status. In this case, I’ll disable Shared Memory

Once I do that, the protocol is disabled. However not on the instance. I’ll get this message.

I need to restart the server. Once that’s done, no one will be able to use Shared Memory on the host.

I can fix this

Of course, I need to restart my instance again.

Checking the Log

When SQL Server starts, quite a bit of configuration information is written into the log. This is useful for troubleshooting in many cases. One of the things you’ll find is the network listeners, as shown here.

This is usually after the database startup information, so if you look, you can see I have some local pipes and some TCP/IP settings here.

SQLNewBlogger

After reading a question, this was less than 10 minutes to write, with making screenshots. However I’ve done this before. If this was your first time, then it might take you longer to research and write, but I bet most DBAs could do this in 30-45 minutes.