Category Archives: SQL Server 2005

Database Mirroring From SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 CU3

I recently ran into a production instance of SQL Server 2005 SP2 (Build 3042) that is running in a two node, single instance fail-over cluster, running on Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2. As you may be aware, this entire stack … Continue reading

Posted in Microsoft, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 | Tagged | 9 Comments

Gradually Deleting Data in SQL Server

If you have a situation where you have a very large table in SQL Server, where you need to periodically delete tens of millions of rows of data, there are several ways to do it. If you have a maintenance … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server Denali | 23 Comments

SQL Server 2005 SP4 Cumulative Update 3

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2005 SP4 Cumulative Update 3, which is Build 9.0.5266. There are only five fixes listed in the KB article for this final release. Here is what Microsoft says about the release: SQL Server 2005 SP4 … Continue reading

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SQL Server 2005 SP3 Cumulative Update #15

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2005 SP3 Cumulative Update 15, which is Build 9.0.4325. There are only six fixes included in this final release. Here is what Microsoft says about the release: SQL Server 2005 SP3 CU 15 marks the … Continue reading

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Mirrored Database Backups vs. Striped Database Backups

I have seen a few people get confused about the difference between a mirrored database backup (which is only available in SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition and above) and a striped database backup. A Mirrored Backup is simply a database … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2 | Tagged | 3 Comments

March 2011 Version of SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Diagnostic Queries

Another month, and another new version of my SQL Server Diagnostic Information queries for both SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008/2008 R2. I have uploaded the scripts for each version to DropBox (see the links below). There are two … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2 | Tagged , | 7 Comments

New SQL Server 2005 Cumulative Updates

Microsoft has released two new Cumulative Updates for SQL Server 2005. The first one is SQL Server 2005 SP3 CU14, which is Build 9.00.4317. The second one is SQL Server 2005 SP4 CU2, which is Build 9.00.5259. There are only … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005 | Tagged | 2 Comments

How to Interpret SELECT @@VERSION in SQL Server

One common point of confusion that I often see when people run the SELECT @@VERSION query is how to properly understand the results that are returned. I have seen many people mix up the SQL Server portion of the results … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 | Tagged | 3 Comments

SQL Server and the “Lock pages in memory” Right in Windows Server

Another Windows setting you might want to enable is “Lock pages in memory”. There is some controversy within the SQL Server community and within Microsoft about whether and when you should enable this setting. Before you decide whether you want … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2 | Tagged | 58 Comments

Windows Instant File Initialization and SQL Server

One Windows setting that I think is extremely important for SQL Server usage is the “Perform volume maintenance tasks” right, which enables Windows Instant File Initialization. On a Windows Server 2003 or newer operating system, using SQL Server 2005 or … Continue reading

Posted in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2 | Tagged | 16 Comments