Database engineer with a passion for automation
When granting permissions to SQL Server resources we have a few options. One option is to grant permissions to Active Directory groups instead of individual users. This has several benefits, for example, improved security over using SQL logins, and the ability to create a separation of duties when controlling database access. However, it does add…
Have you ever wanted to quickly backup/restore a database to the same instance to do some side by side testing? Perhaps to make some index changes or code changes, without actually changing the live copy of the database? Ideally you’d already have another environment for this sort of work, but even then sometimes it’s handy…
It’s the first T-SQL Tuesday of 2021, and James Mcgillivray (b|t) is our host for January’s edition of this monthly blog party. This month’s topic is around how we escape with vacation/holiday plans. They gave us a few options on what to blog about and I’m going to take you on a virtual trip to…
Well 2020 was certainly an interesting year. I’m pretty sure none of us could have predicted how the world would look now and it won’t be regarded as the best year ever. However, there were definitely still some bright points I’d like to make note of before setting some targets for 2021. Looking back on…
This was the 3rd year I participated in the Advent of Code (AoC). If you haven’t heard of AoC, it’s an advent calendar of coding puzzles. Each day between December 1st and 25th a two part puzzle is released, you can use whatever language you want to solve it, with the goal being just to…
It’s December, the last T-SQL Tuesday for 2020. I’ve managed to participate in seven this year, including hosting in February – I wonder if in 2021 I will be able to complete a full year. I always look forward to these monthly blog parties, so thanks to Lisa for hosting this month. Lisa has asked…
Last week I gave a presentation at Data South West on dbachecks and dbatools. One of the questions I got was whether you could run dbachecks against Azure SQL Databases, to which I had no idea. I always try to be prepared for potential questions that might come up, but I had only been thinking…
It’s no secret that I love dbatools and dbachecks. I am certain that I run a dbatools command at least once a day. It has fundamentally changed how I work as a dba, and it makes my life so much easier. I mention this when I’m presenting on these topics, but today I want to…
This month’s blog party is hosted by Taiob Ali (b|t), and they ask how are we coping with the pandemic. Last week England entered its second national lockdown, which is slated to last until December 2nd, so now more than ever is a good time to reflect on some effective coping strategies. Thanks Taiob for…
In an ideal situation it probably shouldn’t matter which node of a failover cluster your resources and roles are hosted on, but the real world is often far from ideal. This post will talk through how we can record the current owner nodes and then use Pester to ensure we’re in the ideal configuration. This…