Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Two Types of Performance Counters

    I had an issue where an instance of SQL Server was only showing the XTP (In Memory) performance counters. None of the other SQL Server counters were available, so I followed the procedure I’d written about previously. Once that was completed, I restarted SQL Server and looked.

    No counters, still.

    Hmmm. It was then I scrolled further and realized that I had the SQL Server Agent counters, but not the database engine ones. I looked closer in the Performance folder for my instance and noticed this:

    2018-05-29 21_30_31-Binn

    There are two .ini files. There are

    • perf-<named instance>sqlcrt.ini
    • perf-SQLAgent<instance>sqlagtctr.ini

    These refer to the counters for the database engine and the Agent subsystem. I had unknowingly copied the Agent file for the lodctr.exe call rather than the other one.

    Lesson learned. I had to re-run the procedure with the engine ini file and restart the instance again.

    If you need to add counters, make sure you load both and run a restart, otherwise you might incur more downtime than you expect.

  • Project Euler

    I like having problems to practice solving in computer science. It can be a fun hobby, and it exercises your mind. I have enjoyed the Advent of Code, though some of those are complex and hard to focus on in my busy life.

    My middle son asked about Project Euler as he finished his first year of college and suggested we try some together. He’s been busy, though I have called him down as I’ve solved one or two. He’s asked I send him my code, which I’m doing in Python as practice. He’s using C++, which is something he’s studying, but he knows some Python.

    These are all math based problems, and most are short in the archives. I’ve been trying to take 5-10 minutes and solve 1 a day. I’ll ping my kid when I’m working, and we might pair program a bit to get a solution.

    Not terribly challenging, but it is a different type of thinking from most data work, and it can be fun. If you want to take a break from other work, maybe experiment with a new language, give Project Euler a try.

  • No @@ServerName on Linux

    I setup a new instance of SQL Server on Linux some time ago. At the time, the Linux machine didn’t have any Samba running, and no real “name” on the network. As a result, after installing SQL Server I got a NULL when running SELECT @@SERVERNAME.

    The fix is easy. It’s what you’d do if you had the wrong name. You run:

    sp_addserver ‘Ubuntu’, Local

    In this case, Ubuntu was the name I gave my machine under the Samba server, since that’s the OS. I don’t plan on adding more for now, so this is fine.

    After the chance, I couldn’t restart the instance from SSMS, so on the host itself, I ran a

    sudo systemctl stop mssql-server
sudo systemctl start mssql-server

    That completed, and my @@servername is now working.

  • The June 2018 SQL in the City is coming

    We’ve got the schedule up and you can register today. Once again I’m heading to the UK, along with Grant, to broadcast a series of sessions that we hope will help you learn a bit more about building better database software and protecting data.  Kathi’s recording her session as she’ll be in Hawaii that week (she declined to trade with me).

    The theme this time is Compliant Database DevOps. Lots of people are struggling and coming to terms with the GDPR changes. I’d argue, as would others, that really most of the world ought to have better data handling, so we’ll give you some thoughts and ideas here of how to do this. We’ll use some Redgate products, but we’re hoping you get the overall concepts and ideas as well.

    Join me on June 20 and get a one day conference from the comfort of your own office.