SQL DBA Blog

Category: SQL Server

SQL Server Blog Archives, by Peter Whyte (Database Administrator).
Includes: Database Admin, Management Studio (SSMS), Windows Admin, PowerShell, WSL, MSSQL Backups, Restores & more…

  • Restoring Full Database Backup in SQL Server

    Restoring a full backup file in SQL Server is a fundamental task for database administrators and developers. This guide walks you through the process step by step, highlighting some key options to use. Full backups capture the entire database, including all data and the transaction log necessary for…

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  • Copying Dates into Excel

    There’s often a need to quickly copy/paste a database query output into an Excel sheet, rather than exporting as a .csv file. When you do this for a DATETIME column though, it’ll show up in Excel looking something like this. I don’t think Excel likes the milliseconds. This…

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  • Stack Exchange Data Explorer

    As a DBA, I’ve found Stack Exchange Data Explorer to be a really useful tool for exploring and analyzing the data from the Stack Exchange network of websites. It’s kind of like having a SQL playground where you can run all sorts of queries and see what insights…

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  • Monitoring Database Growth Events in SQL Server

    Database growth events occur when a SQL Server database file reaches its capacity and automatically grows to accommodate more data. These events are configured in the database properties, where you can define growth increments in MB or GB. Properly configuring these settings is important for maintaining performance, as…

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  • Show Line Numbers in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

    This is a quick tip on how to show line numbers in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) query windows. Enabling line numbers can be useful, especially when you get an error message that points to a specific line in your code. While not strictly necessary, some developers prefer…

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  • Show Available Disk Space in SQL Server

    This blog post is to share a script that you can run in SQL Server (versions 2008 R2 and above) which shows the available disk space for all local volumes on a SQL Server host. I’m also including a quick note on how to get this information with…

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  • Killing SQL Server Processes (SPIDs)

    Sometimes in SQL Server, you encounter processes that need to be terminated—whether it’s a query running wild, consuming too many resources, or holding up others. In this demo, we’ll set up a blocking SPID to simulate such a scenario, then resolve it by identifying and killing the offending…

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  • Renaming a computer that hosts SQL Server

    When renaming a computer hosting SQL Server, you need to update system metadata to maintain connectivity for remote connections and applications. This process involves updating SQL Server’s registered hostname to match the new computer name. Quick Steps to Update SQL Server After a Hostname Change: 1. Rename the…

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  • Installing SQL Server 2017

    Installing SQL Server is relatively straightforward, but ensuring proper configuration from the outset helps avoid issues later. This guide walks through the key steps and best practices for setting up SQL Server 2017, highlighting essential pre-installation considerations and post-installation tasks. Before starting, consult Microsoft’s official docs: Planning a…

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  • Get Estimated Database Backup/Restore Time Script

    This post contains a SQL script to get estimated completion times and process information for your currently running database backups & restores in SQL Server. Backing up a database can often take a very long time. It depends on various factors, one obvious reason being, that the bigger…

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