Setting maximum database file sizes in SQL Server is something you’d ideally not have to set, but it’s a good last resort option available if you need it. The reason I say this is because, you never want a production database to stop updating/inserting data due to a size cap on the database. However, if […]
The Update-Help cmdlet in PowerShell will download the latest help files for PowerShell modules installed on your machine. Running PowerShell as Administrator is a requirement for this one, else you’ll get the following error. “Access is denied” is the key part in this error, amongst a lot of irrelevant info. And when you do run […]
It’s a solid best practise to have TempDB files stored in separate drive, away from your C: drive. This is because TempDB can grow very large, very quickly (within minutes); depending on workloads of course, and this can happen on both the TempDB data (.ndf) and log (.ldf) files. This post is a quick tutorial […]
The Import Flat File wizard within SSMS was introduced in December 2017 (14.0.17213.0). This is a streamlined version of the Import Data feature and it minimises the user intervention during a file import. Unlike the Import data feature, you don’t have the option to save the import as a .DTS package. This makes it a […]
If you’ve lost a database log file and you’re in critical need of the data, well… that would never happen ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Nevertheless, this is might be a handy random fact to know, that you can attach a data (.mdf) file without the associated log (.ldf) file in SQL Server. This post will […]
In this post I’m going to show what the WITH FILE = X option does when backing-up or restoring a SQL Server database. microsoft_documentation The first thing we need to know is that a backup file can contain multiple databases, and even multiples of the same database. If you run a quick backup command on a […]
There are many reasons why you’d need to delete old data from a table within a database, some of which include; # GDPR (adhering to data retention policies)# Ever increasing tables becoming tougher to manage (e.g. a replication refresh is taking 2 days)# SQL Server Express limitations (10GB max database size)# The table is storing application […]
SSMS has an option that allows you to change the colour of your query banner, which is useful if you want visually mark a server that you work with every-day. A while back, when I was frequently switching between live & test SQL instances, I set them to red/green. Red obviously meaning be cautious! Nowadays, […]
This post is a quick run-through of using a PowerShell script to count rows within a bunch of CSV files. You might find this useful for verifying row counts, if importing multiple CSV files into a database. Count Rows within CSV Files First, open PowerShell ISE on your machine. Have a quick look at your […]
Exporting data out of SQL is an easy task, but there’s always a few snags that’ll crop up here and there, like always. This is just a quick note on the default export file options when using SQL Server Management Studio. Export Query Results to File To export a query the simplest way, it would […]
There are many ways to check the size of a table in SQL Server. The way you'll do it will likely depend on what you're task at hand is. For example, a quick look at the Disk Usage by Top Tables report on a database you've never seen before would instantly show you the heavy […]
Backing up a database is something I’ve always found easier done within a query window. There’s not much to it; [crayon-5c70936a00d78699704923/] That’s what I’m used to writing. I’ve no need to worry about the copy_only option these days, or check SQL Server Editions to see if I can use compression. Good times that was. Measuring […]
