New Instance… Now What? Presented by: James Donahoe Senior Solutions Engineer – TeleTracking Technologies MCSA: SQL Server 2012

About Me! PASS Virtual Chapter Leader – “In-Memory” SQL Environments of SQL 2000 to current MCSA in SQL Server 2012, pursuing MCSE Retro Video Game Collector (Over 900 games!) Eagle Scout United States Marine Corps Veteran An owner of Retro Perler Art

80% 1 st Retention Rate About TeleTracking 24 YEARS As Industry Leader in Patient Flow 95% 62 of the 100 GREAT HOSPITAL Of The Best Hospitals Clients 350K + Acute Care Beds By KLAS as Industry Leader in Patient Flow

Agenda Configuration The Maintenance Hexagon What do I backup? DR Testing Best Practice Security Recommendations Resources

Configuration

Are your MDF, and LDF files on the same drive? Are your backups residing on the same drive as your data files? What is MAXDOP set to? What is your cost threshold for parallelism? How many TempDB files do you have? What is your instance memory capped at?

Basic Maintenance

The Maintenance Hexagon Reduce Impact of Database Backup Logging Clear Backup History Recovery Database Backups Query Performance Faster Root Cause Analysis Index Rebuild/Reorg Statistics Update Cycle Agent Error Log Cycle Instance Error Log Manageable Error Logs More Appropriate Execution Plans Reduce Disk I/O Backup Performance

BACKUPS Full Database Backup Creates a full backup of all user databases. Scheduled for every Sunday at 2:00AM Backups retained for 14 days located in the default backup directory Transaction Log Backup Creates a transaction log backup of all user databases in Full Recovery Scheduled for every Monday through Saturday at 2:00AM Backups are retained for 14 days located in the default backup directory Maintenance Examples

MISC Maintenance CycleErrorLog Cycles the error log on SQL Server Is scheduled for every Sunday, Wednesday at 5:00 am. Integrity Checks database integrity including indexes Is scheduled for every Sunday at 3:00AM Optimization Rebuild all indexes Changes free space to default setting Updates all statistics Is scheduled for every Sunday at 4:00AM Maintenance Continued

What Do I Do With My Backups?

What do I backup? ALL databases – User and System! All User Databases System Databases Transaction Logs Watch SIZE, Backups will help keep in check Select * from sys.configurations Create a job to run that query Save this into a table Back it up! Comes in handy if you ever have to reinstall!

TEST Your Backups! Backing up is the first step, but they won’t do you any good if they are corrupted. TEST your backups at LEAST once a quarter. If you haven’t experienced a corrupted database, give it time, it will happen!

Disaster Recovery Testing

DR Testing When was the last time you did a fire drill? If it is longer than 6 months, you are overdue! How easy is it to access the documentation? \\fileshare\where\the\folder\structure\is\something\like\this ^ REALLY!? That just slows everything down. Are the instructions clear? Would I be able to come in today, and be able to follow your instructions to have your system back up and running within your timeframe? What is your average restore time? (Those backup tests have come back to get yinz! – Pittsburgheze)

Security Recommendations

Best Practice Security Recommendations Non-Default logins provisioned to sysadmin role Non-default users are provisioned to db_owner role Who needs access? Don’t use SA accounts for SQL Server Agent Jobs Are you using the basics? “Password Complexity”, “Password Expiration”?

Resources

Resources Local Pass Chapter Many of us see each other monthly at a user group. Ask your question there, get the speakers contact information and don’t be afraid to reach out to them. PASS is a great organization that encourages learning through your peers. BrentOzar.com In one free, convenient zip file, you get their scripts including sp_Blitz®, sp_AskBrent®, and sp_BlitzIndex®, plus their e-books like the SQL Server Setup Checklist and AlwaysOn Availability Groups Setup Checklist. Twitter #SQLHELP, #SQLFAMILY Reaching out to any of those hashtags will get you a response relatively quickly if you are working on something SQLskills.com/blogs/glenn/ Free SQL Server Diagnostic Information queries—Updated MONTHLY

MinionWare Several free pieces of wonderful software – Reindex, backup, etc. Automates those tasks for you so you don’t have to worry! SQLSentry I cannot stress how great PlanExplorer is! They have a free and paid version, both get the job done, but I HIGHLY recommend that paid version. Virtual Pass Chapters These chapters hold virtual meetings every month for their subject(In-Memory, Performance, Administration, etc). Register on SQLPASS.org and look into them, lots of great, knowledgeable speakers regularly present! -- Shameless Plug, In-Memory VC has a great leader, just sayin. ;) Micrsoft Virtual Academy Free videos on all Microsoft products

Questions?Suggestions?Stories?

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