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SteveStedman

February 2017 Release of Database Health Monitor

Today I had the opportunity to complete and launch the February 2017 version of Database Health Monitor.

I hope you like the latest version. Here are the Release Notes:

Version 2.5 Release Notes – February 2017.

Version 2.5 is the February 2017 release of Database Health Monitor, released on February 19, 2017.

What People Are Saying About Database Health Monitor

  • Outstanding app. Already referred it to several friends in the field. Well I do have to say the changes you have made (regarding version 2.5), seems to have made everything in the interface much snappier. Your work here is quite impressive. (Frank from Texas)
  • Outstanding! Besides enjoying the layout of your app, one thing I really like about the Quick Scan Report is each entry has a corresponding link that discusses the finding so I can go back and review recommendations, cautions, etc. (Michael)

New Features in 2.5

  • Upgraded application to use the .Net 4.5 runtime.
  • Fragmented Indexes Advisor – added buttons to rebuild or reorganize all fragmented indexes. Wow this will save some time when you have a bunch of indexes to defragment.
  • Added historic monitoring for disk space. Still need to add reports, but the tracking is there.
  • Added a menu to the main application window. Removed the big buttons for Connect, Settings, and About, and replaced them with menu items.
  • Added a menu item to link to the feedback survey.
  • Rearranged some of the columns on the What is Active report to make it easier to see what is running right away without scrolling.

Read More »February 2017 Release of Database Health Monitor

Azure PDW What is Active

Lately I have had the opportunity to work with performance tuning of queries running on the Azure Parallel Data Warehouse (Azure PDW). This has been interesting in that everything you thought you knew about SQL Server DMV’s, writing queries and overall performance tuning is just a little bit different.

My goal was to write a query to show me what is currently active and running on the Azure PDW database.

To start with, I discovered the view called SYS.DM_PDW_EXEC_REQUESTS which contains all kinds of great information to get us started. Specifically it hold information on queries that are currently running or have recently been run or attempted to be run on the Azure PDW database.

SELECT *
FROM SYS.DM_PDW_EXEC_REQUESTS;

Which returned hundreds of rows, and didn’t really get me to where I wanted to go.
Next I added a WHERE statement to filter out those queries that were “done”. In this case done means that were ‘Completed’, ‘Failed’ or ‘Cancelled’.

Read More »Azure PDW What is Active

The On Call DBA For Corruption

 

One of those services that I offer is on call help for DBA’s who encounter database corruption. Call me anytime 24/7 and as long as you are an existing customer, or we can work out a billing arrangement to turn you into a paying customer, I can help.

That’s all a good if you are familiar with what database corruption is. But based on the occasional phone call that I receive based on my outreach to help with database corruption, it makes me think that I haven’t done the best job describing what corruption is.

A few minutes ago at 12:15am, my phone rings, I was sound asleep but it woke me up and I answered it. Still a bit groggy I hear a voice on the other end asking “Are you the one who can help with database corruption removal?” to which I answer yes. He then goes into a story about how he has just been fingerprinted and he wasn’t supposed to be arrested. He goes on to describe how he didn’t feel that he should have been arrested, but the police officers have told him that now that his fingerprints are in the database, there isn’t anything they can do to undo it. I break in with “sorry that’s not the type of work I do”, and he continues to request my help to to get his fingerprints out of the database and remove his arrest record. I end the call, and hope that this wasn’t his one phone call that he is allowed when he was being booked.

Read More »The On Call DBA For Corruption