In my previous post, I created a Link Server to another SQL Server instance This time, it’s a link to a Postgres database! This guide can be followed from start to finish using the links below. # Install SQL Server (separate post).# Install PostgreSQL (separate post).# Test Connectivity to Remote Server (previous Linked Server post).# […]
Linked Servers in SQL Server allows you to query external databases, such as remote SQL Server instances, Oracle, ODBC or MS Access databases. This is a quick guide on how to link one SQL Server instance to another, which will include the following: # Test Connectivity to Remote Server# Create Linked Server Login# Create Linked […]
When a database file gets full and it needs more space, a growth event will happen. The size of said database growth can be set within the database options, or can be done using the ALTER DATABASE statement as shown below. When considering growth event sizes for log (.ldf) files, you may want to have […]
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 […]
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, […]
