Use sys.dm_os_waiting_tasks to Find Blocking Transactions

If you want to do a quick and simple exercise to view blocking transactions on your SQL Server machine (code at bottom of blog).

I create a dummy table called “BlockingTable” and insert 10 rows of data. I then open a transaction and doing a simple update of the table. I leave the transaction open and open three new sessions. Continue reading “Use sys.dm_os_waiting_tasks to Find Blocking Transactions”

INDEX REORGANIZE vs REBUILD in SQL Server

This blog post is meant to help distinguish the differences between REORGANIZE and REBUILD when it comes to index fragmentation. If you are serious about learning more of the internals of how indexing works in SQL Server, watch Kimberly Tripp’s (blog | twitter) video called, “Index Internals” here (open link and scroll down to “Index Internals”). Continue reading “INDEX REORGANIZE vs REBUILD in SQL Server”

What’s Msg 208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1

It’s usually something simple that’s overlooked that ends up causing the biggest troubleshooting headache. Let me explain. I was creating a test database called “testDB” with a test table called “testTable” (yes I know, I put a lot of thought in the naming of these objects) and when I tried to insert data into this new testTable I got the following error:

Msg 208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Invalid object name ‘testTable’.

Msg 208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1What the hec? How can it be an invalid object? I just created it! Continue reading “What’s Msg 208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1”

My First SQL Server User Group Session

I attended my very first SQL Server User Group meeting last night and it was awesome! I want to start by giving my friend Tim Radney a BIG thank you for telling me about the importance of attending these sessions!

THANKS brother!

I joined the Northern Virginia (NOVA) SQL User Group a few weeks ago and attended my very first session last night. The session was called, “Hands-On Lab- Migrating a SQL Server Database to a Microsoft Azure SQL Database” and it was an online lab. Continue reading “My First SQL Server User Group Session”

My Review of Immersion Event on Performance Tuning and Optimization 1

I was fortunate enough to attend IEPTO1 (Immersion Event on Performance Tuning and Optimization part 1) by Kimberly Tripp (twitter) and Paul Randal (twitter) of SQLSkills this past Spring. It was absolutely amazing! If you are a DBA, developer, or just an IT tech geek who loves to learn then you must attend this event. Find registration information here. Continue reading “My Review of Immersion Event on Performance Tuning and Optimization 1”