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Local Man Goes Camping

by on June 28, 2010

Confused Bears Reported in Midwest Forests

[Twitter.com]  Local man @BuckWoody went camping for a week and left Twitter behind. The SQL Server community tried to make up for  his absence, but found they could not drink enough coffee to sustain the effort.

Strangely Behaving Woodland Creatures Reported

Wildlife over the last week has been reported as “hysterical”, “giggly”, “pantless”, and “like the [expletive] thing had just drank sixteen pots of [expletive] coffee!!!” [sic]

One family, rescued by park rangers, told news crews they were surrounded by a nursery of raccoons which repeatedly “insisted we reconsider the principles of relational database design.” When one camper attempted to call for help, a raccoon reportedly took his cell phone, saying, “I’ll handle this, just let me talk to them.” The family is being treated at a nearby hospital.

You May Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled @BuckWoody

Welcome back, @BuckWoody. We’re all glad you returned to your natural environment: the internet.

Comments { 3 }

Error Configuring DataCollector: A collection set cannot start without a schedule

by on June 25, 2010

Data Collection, Puppy Style

Update: Based on Bill Ramos’ comment below and a note on Twitter (thanks!!) I have added some more details which hopefully make the situation clearer.

Summary

When setting up data collection using the GUI, configuration failed halfway through setup. At the point  of failure I found there were SQL Agent jobs for collections visible, but nothing appearing  in Management Studio under Management\Data Collection. The Data Collection icon still had the ‘off’ down red arrow. (I manually refreshed it for good measure to make sure.)

Beware: this isn’t an officially endorsed workaround. It’s just how I found I could make it work. I am testing this on a server which isn’t in production use.

My Setup

I was configuring the data collector on a SQL 2008 R2 instance (clustered), and pointing to a SQL 2008 (NOT R2) Management Data Warehouse. The MDW is on another server of course– that one isn’t clustered (although I don’t think it matters).  Since the MDW server isn’t R2 it  doesn’t (and can’t) have a Utility Control Point installed, but when you set up data collection on an R2 target, it automatically includes some of the collection sets for the UCP. That’s fine, they should just stay off when they don’t communicate with a UCP.

In the past I have successfully configured Data Collection at least 10 times without seeing this issue, however at that point my Data Collection targets and my Management Data Warehouse were all on SQL Server 2008. This is the first time I have configured data collection on a SQL Server 2008 R2 target using a MDW which is SQL Server 2008. Basically, I am bringing this R2  box up for performance testing and burn-in now, and later on will be doing a separate change to bring the MDW up to SQL Server 2008 R2.

The Point of Failure

Setting up data collection with the GUI failed half way through. Everything was fine walking through the GUI, but when I told it to set up collection it failed halfway through the setup process and could not complete.

The failure report showed the following error [excerpted]:

TITLE: Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Collector
——————————
Unable to start collection set Utility Information.
....
Caught error#: 14693, Level: 16, State: 1, in Procedure: sp_syscollector_start_collection_set, Line: 108, with Message: A collection set cannot start without a schedule. Specify a schedule for the collection set. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 14684)

Looking at the system configuration, jobs had been created in the SQL agent for data collection, but no system collections were visible under the Data Collector in management studio.

At this point I was not able to uninstall and reinstall– currently Data Collection can be disabled, but it can’t be uninstalled.

Continue Reading →

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Follow Friday: @SQLSaurus

by on June 25, 2010

You meet a lot of people on Twitter. At first, you start out, and it’s just one or two friends. And then it’s some of their friends, and then someone whose articles you’ve read. And then the people they know, and people you met at some conferences, and people they rode the bus with, and then some people they ran into on the street in Vegas who took really funny pictures of them. You know how it is. After a little while you’ve seen an awful lot of Twitter user names.

But sometimes you come across someone whose Twitter user name just makes you happy. It’s a great name. And you can tell by their user name that they know what’s in the #awesomesauce.

With that introduction, I give you for #FF (Follow Friday), @SQLSaurus, Jason R. Hall.

Could there be a more fantastic creature than a @SQLSaurus? It CARRIES VARIABLES IN ITS SPINES and is COVERED IN SQL. And it is UNSTOPPABLE because it is a POWERFUL GIANT REPTILE.  What could be better that that???

So do the obviously right thing. Follow the @SQLSaurus. You wouldn’t want to make A CARNIVOROUS ANCIENT PREDATOR WHICH IS COVERED IN SQL unhappy, now would you?

In the @SQLSaurus own words, “You know SQLSauruses eat web developers for breakfast and report writers for dinner.”

I think that means you shouldn’t forget to check out his blog, either.

Want your Own Silly Drawring?

Do you deserve a goofy cartoon representing you for #FF with a little free advertising? Would you actually want one? If so, leave a comment and tell me why, or tweet at me on twitter.  If nothing else, you save someone else from falling victim to my Intuos pen.

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Change Data Capture vs Change Tracking

by on June 23, 2010

Make sure to check out the comments on this one!

A short conversation on Twitter Monday night reminded me of this topic. SQL 2008 introduced two new features with similar names and similar-sounding functionality, which are actually quite different. I had learned about these once upon a time and then largely forgotten the details until I took a recent course with Paul Randal (blog | twitter) and Kimberly Tripp (blog | twitter), so I’m guessing others could use a little refresher as well.

So here is a quick taxonomy of Change Data Capture and Change Tracking. I’m going to keep this short, but if you really want all the details, skip to the links at the bottom for complete information.

Change Tracking (CT)

Change Tracking is a synchronous mechanism which modifies change tracking tables as part of ongoing transactions to indicate when a row has been changed. It does not record past or intermediate versions of the data itself, only that a change has occurred. It is recommended to use snapshot isolation with Change Tracking! (See the links below for details on why.)

Change Data Capture (CDC)

Change Data Capture is asynchronous and uses the transaction log in a manner similar to replication. Past values of data are maintained and are made available in change tables by a capture process, managed by the SQL Agent, which regularly scans the T-Log. As with replication, this can prevent re-use of parts of the log.

If you suffer from excessive log reuse waits, you can post a comment on the SQLAgentMan blog and ask for your log back.

Continue Reading →

Comments { 4 }

DBA Checklists: Check out Free OneNote in Office Live

by on June 21, 2010

Why DBAs Will Love OneNote

OneNote in Office online makes it easy to create and share notebooks with many checklists. The checklists include version tracking.

DBAs tend to use and share a lot of checklists– things like installation and configuration sequences, patching instructions, quarterly system review processes, change/deployment  plans, etc. Sequencing of tasks is important, and sharing status of the tasks easily is extremely helpful.

Essentially, to be successful as a DBA you need to be able to express and document processes simply in a way that others can understand, either for compliance reasons or so they can carry out the tasks themselves.

I use OneNote all the time at work for checklists and I don’t know what I’d do without it. It integrates beautifully with SharePoint 2010 and is great for collaborative checklists. It allows me to easily map out the steps for a project, hand off tasks to others, and share the status of the project. It’s invaluable for later answering the question, “why did we do that?”

Now OneNote 2010 is available online as part of Windows Office Live and is free to use. I highly recommend trying it out.

How to Try it Out

Go to http://live.com. If you have a Windows Live ID, go ahead and sign in. Otherwise, click ‘Sign Up’ and walk through the wizard to create a Windows Live ID.

Once  you’re signed in, click the Office option on the top menu.

This will take you to the Office page. Click the OneNote button on the right to create a new online document.

You’ll be prompted to name your notebook and save it. It will automatically save into your SkyDrive space and then open your new OneNote Notebook.

The Trick For CheckLists

I’m going to describe below how to get started with OneNote, but it’s pretty intuitive and I imagine most people will just give it a shot without reading everything here. That’s what I would do.

So I’ll just say now, the main thing you need to know is this:

All you have to do to create a checkbox is hit CTRL+1.  Doing it again will check the box. Doing it a third time will remove the box.

You can do this with the mouse from the ‘Tag’ menu on the ribbon bar as well, but it’s really fast to do with the keyboard and with a little practice it’s easy as pie. Tasty, tasty checklist  pie.

Sample OneNote Checklist

Continue Reading →

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Haikus for SQL Saturday #43

by on June 14, 2010

Thank You, SQL Saturday

SQL Saturday #43 was held in Redmond, Washington on June 12. It was tons of fun: great sessions, lots of interesting people to meet, and a well organized day where everything happened on time as if by magic. How do they do it?

I Luv You SQL Saturday

SQL Saturday is a free event open to the public and is part of the Professional Association for SQL Server. You can learn more at http://sqlsaturday.com.

I had a great time and learned a lot, and THANK YOU to all the volunteers and speakers, and everyone who helped the event happen!

SQL Saturday Haikus

Here are the sessions I attended with a haiku inspired by each.

“SSIS for the Faint of Heart” by Scott Stauffer (blog | twitter)
Play with these samples
You can do a LOT of stuff
The demo gods smile.
“SQL Server 2008 Reporting from the Ground Up” by Donabel Santos (blog | twitter)
Sparklines make pictures
Even your boss understands
And the maps are cool!
“The Compression Session” by Kalen Delaney (blog)
A new row format
May make your life easier
Use it like butter
“Using SQL Trace/Profiler Effectively” by Robert Davis (blog | twitter)
Using Profiler
Be careful what you ask for
Or you’ll be sorrrry
“SQL Server for the Oracle DBA” by Buck Woody (blog | twitter)
Just define the terms
And you’ll see it’s not so strange
Did you bring a date?
Comments { 7 }

DBAs Needed on Microsoft Connect

by on June 10, 2010

Why Connect Matters

Microsoft Connect (http://connect.microsoft.com) is one of the main ways the SQL Server team communicates with users: this is how you report bugs and suggest features. Therefore it’s important to regularly vote for bugs and suggestions that make a difference to you!

For bugs you file, you’ll also get feedback pretty quickly from the product team about whether it is a known issue, if there is a workaround, or if a fix is scheduled. I have always been impressed at the speed of response.

Where are the DBAs?

Shared under Creative Commons from John Morton

Looking at the ‘most voted up’ suggestions and bugs, most of the items are for SQL Server development. There are certainly some items that are more administrative, or which impact performance in a way which is more specific to DBAs, but to me it looks like items which DBAs would like are under-represented.

Here’s an example: Are there really only 41 people who’d like to have online partition rebuilds after the suggestion has been in for three years? Even if you’re a DBA and you’re not using partitioning at this time, wouldn’t you like to have the option to rebuild a partition online in the future? (See below for a link to that suggestion).

Get Started:

Once you’re all set up, on the ‘Home’ page you can search for the product ‘SQL Server’, or go directly to https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer.

Use the search box at the top to find items on a particular topic. If you’re having an issue that you believe is a bug, search for an existing item before filing the bug.

Vote!

It’s important to vote for things you’d like to see changed, and to encourage your colleagues to vote as well. The product team looks at connect votes– this is their way to get your input.

When I vote for something, I also like to click the link ‘Add to watch list’. This means the item will be easily accessible from your dashboard, so you can follow up on its progress, and recommend others to also vote for it. You can always remove items from you watch list later.

Here are some suggestions I believe are worth voting for:

You can also review items and start the process of submitting feedback (bug or suggestion) by going to: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/Feedback

Continue Reading →

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TSQLTuesday007

SQL Server 2008/2008R2: My Favorite Feature

by on June 8, 2010

TSQLTuesday007
TSQL Tuesday #007: New Hotness

This post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, 007 Edition. For this T-SQL Tuesday, we are tasked with picking our favorite New Hotness feature for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2. As a DBA who has recently gotten the chance to start working with a bunch of these features, this was a hard one. It took me a whole blog post just to pick a favorite. 

1. My New Crush: PowerPivot

When it comes to R2, PowerPivot is the big charmer for me. It’s as much fun as my spiralizer, and that’s saying a lot. If you don’t know what a spiralizer is, it’s a magical little piece of plastic with a few blades that lets you turn a zuchinni into super long curly strands of veggie pasta, which makes it suddenly *more* than normal squash. You can also make curly fries, slice onions, and do all sorts of crazy cool things a normal person can’t make with an ordinary kitchen knife. 

Spiralizer
Spiralizer & PowerPivot = way more than slicing

PowerPivot is just as fun. You can suck in tons and tons of rows with no worries– I’ve already done 850K from my preproduction environment in less than 30 seconds (and the disks in Pre-Prod ain’t exactly smokin fast). And then you can not only slice and dice your data, but create pivot graphs and charts to drill through it super-quickly. With PowerPivot, all those rows become more than just data pretty quickly. And so far I’ve only scratched the surface. 

But is PowerPivot really my choice? Sure, it’s really fun and powerful and the newest and the shiniest, but SQL 2008 had a lot of great features. When it comes to making the biggest difference in processing my data and delivering it to reporting systems, a lot has changed lately.  Continue Reading →

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