Category Archive

SQL Server

Asynchronous database mirroring vs availability groups: a primary and a DR database with a quorum witness between them

Async Database Mirroring vs. Async Availability Groups: The Quorum Trap in DR Designs

Compare asynchronous database mirroring with asynchronous availability groups for SQL Server DR, learn why quorum can take production offline, and...

Document tree with a few tagged branches next to a database, representing SQL Server selective XML indexes

Selective XML Indexes in SQL Server: Fast Queries on Large XML Columns

How selective XML indexes in SQL Server index only the XML paths you query, how they compare with primary XML...

One server hosting three stacked databases, representing multiple SQL Server instances on one machine

Should You Install Multiple SQL Server Instances on One Server? Pros, Cons and Alternatives

The real benefits and risks of stacking several SQL Server instances on one server, how to divide memory and CPU...

Four database cylinders around a hidden one, representing SQL Server system databases

SQL Server System Databases: master, model, msdb, tempdb and Resource

What each SQL Server system database holds, how to back up master, model and msdb, why model's FULL recovery bloats...

Server with a settings panel and a wrench, representing SQL Server configuration best practices

SQL Server Configuration Best Practices: The Windows, Instance and Database Settings to Check

A checklist for reviewing an existing SQL Server: power plan and unused services, instance settings with recommended values, and risky...

SQL Server maintenance plan tasks scheduled around a database: backups, integrity checks, statistics and indexes

SQL Server Maintenance Plans: What to Include, What to Avoid and How to Schedule Them

Which tasks a SQL Server maintenance plan should include, which ones to avoid such as shrink, how to handle index...

SQL Server database with a shield, padlock and key representing security hardening

SQL Server Security Hardening: A Practical Checklist for Production Servers

A practical SQL Server hardening checklist: who should hold sysadmin, how to handle sa and service accounts, which features to...

DBCC CHECKDB integrity scan finding a corrupted page in a SQL Server database

DBCC CHECKDB in SQL Server: What It Checks, How Often to Run It and What to Do When It Finds Errors

What DBCC CHECKDB checks, how to run it without blocking production, how often to run it, and what to do,...

SQL Server backup chain of full, differential and transaction log backups

SQL Server Backup Types Explained: Full, Differential, Log, Tail-Log and Copy-Only

Full, differential, transaction log, tail-log, copy-only and filegroup backups explained: what each contains, how they depend on each other and...

SQL Server linked server: two servers joined by a locked chain, representing a secure linked server connection

SQL Server Linked Server: Setup, Security, Queries and the SQL Server 2025 Change

How to create and secure a SQL Server linked server: login mapping, Kerberos delegation, OPENQUERY versus four-part names, version notes...

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