Understanding memory grants is important for ensuring SQL Server queries run efficiently, as they play a pivotal role in allocating temporary storage for data operations like sorting and joining. By analyzing how SQL Server calculates these grants and the impact of new features like Row Mode Memory Grant Feedback, database administrators can significantly enhance system performance. This blog delves into the mechanisms of memory allocation for query execution, the challenges it presents, and the operational benefits of leveraging advanced SQL Server functionalities to optimize resource utilization.
Author: Yvonne Vanslageren
SQL Server 2022 Enhancement for Accelerated Database Recovery
With its debut in SQL Server 2019, Accelerated Database Recovery (ADR) represents a paradigm shift in database recovery and performance enhancement. The primary objective of ADR is to drastically cut down the time databases require to recover from crashes, failures, or restarts. This is particularly important in environments where long-running transactions are common, ensuring that databases remain available and performant, even in the face of unexpected disruptions.
Optimizing SQL Server Performance with SQL Plan Guides
In SQL Server performance tuning, the inability to directly modify query text—often due to restrictions in application code or the use of legacy SQL Server versions that lack modern features like Query Store—poses a significant challenge. However, SQL Plan Guides offer a powerful alternative, providing a means to influence query execution plans and optimize performance without altering the queries themselves. This post delves into the concept of SQL Plan Guides, illustrating their utility and guiding through their creation and application.
Navigating Asynchronous Statistics Updates in SQL Server 2022
Keeping database statistics updated is crucial for the smooth functioning of your queries. The database engine is pretty smart; it automatically refreshes these statistics to stay in sync with changes in your data. This is key for the query optimizer, the brain behind the scenes, to churn out the most efficient plans for your queries. While up-to-date statistics often improve query plan quality, the extra time added to some query executions due to statistics update may be undesirable, particularly in transactional workloads with short queries, where updating statistics may take longer than query execution itself. For this reason, the SQL Server database engine also supports an option to update statistics asynchronously.
Understanding the Implications of the TRUSTWORTHY Database Setting in SQL Server
As a SQL Server DBA, understanding the nuances of database settings is necessary for maintaining security and integrity. One such setting that often becomes a topic of discussion due to its significant impact on security is the TRUSTWORTHY database setting. The TRUSTWORTHY database setting in SQL Server is a configuration option that affects the security of certain database operations, particularly those involving code execution contexts. It plays a critical role in the security context of modules that use WITH EXECUTE AS, as well as CLR (Common Language Runtime) assemblies marked as EXTERNAL_ACCESS or UNSAFE.
Understanding the Intricacies of SQL Server Virtual Log Files
We as SQL Server DBAs often overlook the importance of the transaction log. It plays a pivotal role in ensuring data integrity and recoverability. To manage this effectively, SQL Server employs a system of segmentation known as Virtual Log Files, or VLFs. The intricacies of VLFs and their management are fundamental to the seamless performance of SQL Server databases.
The Power of Snapshots: Exploring Copy-On-Write in SQL Server
“Copy-On-Write” (COW) is a resource management technique used in computer programming and operating systems. Its application in SQL Server, particularly in relation to snapshot technologies, is a fundamental concept behind the functioning of database snapshots and certain types of backups. Let’s delve into the detailed workings of Copy-On-Write in the context of SQL Server:
Dynamic Data Masking (DDM) in SQL Server
Dynamic Data Masking (DDM) is an important security feature designed to protect sensitive information in database environments like SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. It works by masking sensitive data from non-privileged users, thus enhancing data security and compliance without altering the actual data. DDM operates by hiding sensitive data in query results, allowing only privileged users to view the unmasked data. It’s especially valuable in environments requiring data protection without compromising user experience.
Speed, Efficiency, and VLDB Backups: Making the Right Moves
Today we will discuss VLDB backups. Handling VLDBs can be challenging for many administrators. Sometimes just completing a full backup in a reasonable amount of time is challenging, not to mention restoring a database to meet your organization’s service level agreements (SLA). There are many options to consider. Some options exist outside of the BACKUP DATABASE statement. They key to improving database backups is to adjust various configurations to increase throughput, increase concurrency, and reduce the amount of data to backup.
Implementing Row-Level Security in SQL Server
Row-level security (RLS) in SQL Server is a feature that allows database administrators to control access to rows in a database table based on the characteristics of the users accessing them. This can be particularly important in environments where data privacy and security are critical. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to implement RLS in SQL Server.