Symptoms When you open SQL Server profiler, and try to start a new  trace (or when try to open an existing trace ), you get the error " Unable to read trace definition file Microsoft SQL Server TraceDefinition 9.0.1187.xml. Click OK to retreive...

Scenario Consider a scenario where you have a Log shipping setup with a STANDY secondary database and things are working just fine. One fine day you notice that the secondary database is not in sync with the primary. The seasoned DBA that you are, you...

It's has been couple of years for me working on SQL Server and I keep coming across various SQL Server misconceptions (or say a DBA Myth). In this specific post I’ll demystify a common DBA myth around log-shipping: " In a log shipping setup, to have...

The RTM version of Service Pack 4 (SP4) for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is now available for download, and includes SQL Server 2005 SP3 cumulative updates 1 to 11, customer requested fixes and the SQL Server 2005 SP4 database engine support for DAC operations...

As you might be aware that SQL Server Code-Named “Denali” has introduced a new feature called Always ON for enhancing the availability of user database in a enterprise environment. In simple terms, AlwaysON is a high-availability and disaster recovery...

For additional details check the link below: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2010/09/29/end-of-support-for-sql-server-7-0.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0 Regards, SQLServerFAQ

The SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) gathers data from Microsoft Windows and SQL Server configuration settings. BPA uses a predefined list of SQL Server recommendations and best practices to determine if there are potential issues in the database...

Issue When we try to connect to a SQL instance from SQL server Management studio we get the following error : Error executing extended stored procedure: Invalid Parameter Error executing extended stored procedure: Invalid Parameter (Microsoft...

ISSUE: I’m trying to restore a database backup from SSSMS-UI, however it fails in an initial stage with below error TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio ------------------------------ Specified cast is not valid. (SqlManagerUI) ----...

We at SQL Server support team, continue to invest our time in writing tools and utilities which can aid you in troubleshooting SQL Server issues. SQL Server Backup Simulator is one such tool which will help you while troubleshooting issues in taking backup...

A recent discussion on the #sqlhelp hashtag on Twitter got me researching into this issue. The error message was: 2010-10-19 02:56:59.380 Logon Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 11 . 2010-10-19 02:56:59.380 Logon Login failed for user <Server name>...

Recently, I worked on an interesting case where customer after upgrading an instance of SQL Server 2008 with SP1, the SQL server 2008 services and resources went into a stopped and failed state respectively. The services might appear to come online briefly...

Troubleshooting tempdb growth due to Version Store usage Recently I worked on an issue where the tempdb database version store cleanup was not occurring. I created a small repro to demonstrate the behavior. My tempdb has been showing the version...

In my last blog post , I had explained what Scan Count means and how it is calculated for a query executed on a table. I had illustrated a few examples based on seeks/scans done on Clustered Indexes of a table. This time I shall expand this to clustered...

An overview of the inner working of a replication monitor We might see large number of Pending transactions on one of the Publisher in P2P replication. But when we check the Replication Monitor for second server (Subscriber) it might show a small...

Problem We try to upgrade to SQL 2008 from SQL 2005 in a cluster setup and it fails on the Active node with the following error: From the Summary.txt There was an error during the SQL Server upgrade operation. Setup failed to move the failover...

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION ================ · During upgrade from SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2008 R2 we might encounter an error as shown below Wait on the Database Engine Recovery Handle Failed. Check the SQL Server error log for potential...

What does the Scan Count output in the SET STATISTICS IO output actually mean? I have seen multiple posts on the web regarding confusions and theories around this. As per Books Online , Scan Count is: Number of index or table scans performed. ...

Now that we have XEvents in SQL Server 2008 and above, some of the issues that required us to capture SQL Server dumps or Profiler traces while reproducing an issue are passé. Move over DumpTrigger and Profiler, XEvents is here to replace you!...

This was quite an interesting issue. We started troubleshooting a SQL Server blocking problem due to COMPILE lock blocking. The KB Article: Description of SQL Server blocking caused by compile locks explains why COMPILE lock blocking is encountered on...

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION =================== While trying to migrate the database from sql2008 enterprise to standard you get the following error: TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio ------------------------------ Restore failed...

Issue During an upgrade from SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 Express, the SQL Browser service failed to start, thus causing the upgrade to fail. We saw the following errors being reported in detail.txt 2010-07-23 18:49:17 SQLBrowser: SQL Server Browser Install...

INF: SQL Security - Restricting access to public on server/database objects, its implications and ownership chains There are times when you need to harden the security of your SQL Server and prevent the public/guest users from having access to certain...

In a recent issue with a customer, I came across a strange SQL belief (or say a DBA Myth) regarding SQL Server Transaction Logs Backup/Restore. Let me explain you what was the scenario and then let’s try attempting to break the myth with quick testing...