T-SQL Tuesday on Andy M Mallon - AM²

T-SQL Tuesday: The last ticket I closed

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:41:20 -0500

For this month's T-SQL Tuesday, Brent Ozar (blog|Instagram) asks us to describe the most recent ticket we closed.

“We had a pretty significant wait spike…”

The literal last ticket I closed was “please run this script in production…”, and I don’t think it would be a very interesting blog post to talk about how I copy & pasted a query into SSMS, so let’s talk about a recent ticket instead, from the last couple of weeks.

T-SQL Tuesday #143: My favorite short scripts

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 10:00:22 -0400

For this month's T-SQL Tuesday, John McCormack (blog|twitter) asks us: “What are your go-to short, handy scripts”? I've got so many handy dandy scripts, it was hard to choose.

Where to start?

I have so many go-to scripts that are short, amazing, and I use all the time. I’ve been using SQL Server since the turn of the century, and over the last two decades, I’ve found and written a lot of helpful things. And I have a terrible memory, so even if it’s just a few lines, I often keep it bookmarked or saved for when I need it. As an aside–remember that having a folder of utility scripts isn’t a sign of weakness or incompetence. If anything, it’s the opposite–those utility scripts are basically all battle scars for the database battles you’ve fought over your career. As we become senior, we just fine-tune our collection. With seniority, you don’t stop having that collection of scripts–you just get better at curating them, at making them generic & reusable.

Racism is our problem to solve

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 01:00:59 -0400

This month's T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by Kenneth Fisher (blog|twitter). Kenneth asked us to talk about any non-SQL tips and tricks we have. I'm going to take the moment to give some tips on how (and why) you can help fight bigotry, racism, and racial injustice.

In the US, Racism is a white people problem

The lack of diversity in Tech is a well-documented, well-known problem. Most companies have employee resource groups (ERGs) or other programs to help tackle the problem and build a more diverse workforce. However, companies cannot solve this problem without the engagement and help of employees.

TSQL Tuesday #104: dbo.Check_FileSize

Mon, 09 Jul 2018 23:18:12 -0400

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Bert Wagner (blog | vlog| twitter). The topic: Code You Would Hate To Live Without

It’s been a little bit since the last T-SQL Tuesday I joined, when I blogged about religion & politics (aka, Tabs vs Spaces). When I saw Bert’s excellent topic this month, I decided I’d try to get back on the horse again and do join the blog party again this month.

TSQL Tuesday #99: Tabs vs Spaces

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 07:02:30 -0500

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Aaron Bertrand (blog | twitter). The topic: Dealer's Choice (Door Number 2: Bad Habits)

When I was a kid, Choose Your Own Adventure books were overwhelming because I wanted to explore every possible option–some things never change. This month for T-SQL Tuesday, Aaron offers two blogging options and I’ve chosen to do both. “Door Number 1” is a challenge to write about what you do in your free time, inspired by Drew Furgiuele’s #sqlibirum post. That blog post is over here. This post is for the “Door Number 2” option is to talk about his Bad Habits series–I’ve opted to bring up a topic Aaron hasn’t blogged about: tabs vs spaces.

TSQL Tuesday #99: SQL Tourism

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 07:00:45 -0500

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Aaron Bertrand (blog | twitter). The topic: Dealer's Choice (Door Number 1: #sqlibrium)

When I was a kid, Choose Your Own Adventure books were overwhelming because I wanted to explore every possible option--some things never change. This month for T-SQL Tuesday, Aaron offers two blogging options and I've chosen to do both. "Door Number 1" is a challenge to write about what you do in your free time, inspired by Drew Furgiuele's #sqlibirum post. That blog post is below. My other post is for the "Door Number 2" option is to talk about his Bad Habits series--I've opted to bring up a topic Aaron hasn't blogged about: tabs vs spaces. ## SQL Tourism? What's that? I made it the term, but it's a very real thing. When I started travelling to speak at SQL Server events, I committed that I would make the most of it. To me, that means a lot more than just attending the event where I'm speaking. Sure, I want to learn and network at the event, but it means more than that, too. It means actually seeing the city where I'm speaking. It means enjoying the *entire* trip. It means making new friends, and connecting with old friends. Sometimes, it even means bringing my husband with me.

I work really hard. Some days I’m at my desk before 7:30, and working again after dinner until bedtime. My blog doesn’t write itself–most posts are written nights & weekends after I’ve finished my work obligations for my paying work. That makes it really important to have some down time when I can. When Drew Furgiuele (blog | twitter) posted his #sqlibrium post, it really struck me, because it’s something that a lot of us struggle with–remembering to strike that balance between work and life.

TSQL Tuesday #85: Backup + Recovery + ☁️

Tue, 13 Dec 2016 22:11:48 -0500

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Kenneth Fisher (blog| twitter). The topic: Backup & Recovery

## Your backups are my bread & butter Backup & recovery are a DBA's bread & butter. I always tell people that if you can't restore from backup in an emergency, you should at least make sure your resume is up to date--you'll need it. Part of my approach to making sure I have foolproof backups is making sure my setup is scripted and fool-proof to configure. Traditionally, this has been as simple as some T-SQL scripts that create the backup stored procedure, and create a few SQL Agent jobs.

The SQL Agent jobs would write to the NAS, use the company standard retention, and everything was set. No muss, no fuss.

T-SQL Tuesday #83: Roundup

Sun, 16 Oct 2016 20:49:50 -0400

For this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, I asked people to blog about the same old problems we’ve been dealing with for years. There were some great posts, including a batch of first-time contributors. You’ll notice some overlapping themes as you read through these responses–I think those themes represent some of the biggest, most important problems we have (like being able to restore backups). Thanks for everyone who contributed this month!

We’re still dealing with the same problems

Sat, 08 Oct 2016 16:03:29 -0400

Back in August, Allan Hirt (blog|twitter) tweeted:

In the roughly 25 years of I have been in IT, we’re still dealing with the same problems.

I had a slow day, so I generated a storm of responses. This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is inspired by this tweet. Here’s my list of problems:

T-SQL Tuesday #83: We're still dealing with the same problems

Tue, 04 Oct 2016 09:00:37 -0400

What is T-SQL Tuesday?

T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly blog party hosted by a different blogger each month. This blog party was started by Adam Machanic (blog|twitter). You can take part by posting your own participating post that fits the topic of the month and follows the requirements below. Additionally, if you are interested in hosting a future T-SQL Tuesday, contact Adam Machanic on his blog.

T-SQL Tuesday #79 - COMPRESS()ing LOB data

Tue, 14 Jun 2016 09:00:25 -0400

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Michael J Swart (blog| twitter). The topic: SQL Server 2016 is out!

SQL Server 2016 is hot off the presses, and Michael challenges us to blog about it.

I’ve been using SSMS 2016 (I’m impressed!), but I haven’t spent tons of time using the server-side bits. As I type this intro, the 2016 installer is chugging along getting a fresh instance ready for me to explore so I can write about…

T-SQL Tuesday #78– sys.dm_db_file_space_usage

Tue, 10 May 2016 10:00:59 -0400

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Wendy Pastrick (blog| twitter). The topic: Learn something new and blog about it

SQL Server 2016 is coming out next month, and it's chock full of new features that I can learn. Row-level security is interesting. Dynamic data masking sounds fun.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you probably know I try to approach questions from a unique angle. Instead of blogging about something cutting edge or sexy, I decided to scroll through the list of system views until I found one I didn’t recognize.

T-SQL Tuesday #77– My favorite SQL Server feature

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 22:51:47 -0400

It’s T-SQL Tuesday, the blog party that SQL Server expert Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) started. This month’s episode is hosted by Jens Vestergaard (blog | twitter). The topic: Favorite SQL Server Feature.

When I saw this topic, I was really excited. My mind started racing through all the awesome features in SQL Server. I spend a lot of time dealing with HA and DR--so many features to choose from...but are any of them my favorite? No, probably not. MSX and CMS have made my life so much easier, and they are incredibly cool, and I've not blogged about either of them...but...neither is my favorite.