How to Perform A Health Check By Edward Roepe Perimeter DBA, LLC

About Me Over 25 years experience in databases I have been working with SQL Server since version 4.21 Worked as employee and consultant on some of the largest SQL database installations in US Experience in many different industries Experience in very large databases, high transaction systems, data warehouse, high availability & BI Microsoft Certified Started consulting firm in 2014 in the Atlanta area

Why do a Health Check? New job New responsibilities Planning for upgrades and new releases Microsoft True-Up Audit coming up Capacity planning Think 100’s of servers “If your going to do it once, script it”

The options Login to each server and Take screen shots of SQL Server properties Take screen shots of Windows properties Take screen shots of database properties Use custom scripts Use PowerShell scripts Use Blitz script from Brent Ozar, LLC Combination of above

Brent Ozar Blitz Started by Brent Ozar and company Community contributed to script Includes all versions from 2008 to present Part of First Responders Kit Includes other utilities such as BlitzFirst, BlitzCache, BlitzIndex, AllNightLong, BlitzQueryStore, etc. Download https://www.brentozar.com/first-aid/

How to Install & Run Create DBAUtility database for this and other DBA programs like Ola Hallengren and WhoIsActive utilities Create stored procedure in database Run the stored procedure Copy and paste results into Excel or send to table Use Excel spreadsheet as checklist for action items Use Registered Servers or Central Management Server to deploy to many servers

My favorite options EXEC [dbautility].[dbo].[sp_Blitz] @CheckUserDatabaseObjects = 1, @CheckProcedureCache = 0, @OutputType = 'TABLE', @OutputProcedureCache = 0, @CheckProcedureCacheFilter = NULL, @CheckServerInfo = 1;

Demo (Script 2094) Results returned in priority order Result columns Findings Group Finding Database Name URL Details Query Plan & QueryPlanFiltered Check ID

Other Scripts to Run 2001 – List Version Information 2002 – List SQL Options 2003 – List databases and options 2004 – List Physical Files 2007 – List Unused Indexes 2011 – List logins with system level permissions 2012 – List Missing Indexes

Other items to check and document Crystal Disk Mark – Disk performance Windows security – Local admin group, pagefile Physical security of server – Datacenter, etc. Disaster Recovery requirements Capacity planning Listing of databases, applications and business owners Run SQL Vulnerability Assessment for security

Summary The Blitz script is a good start for getting lay-of- the-land Run Blitz on monthly basis and compare Use it to check your work after an install Use the test URLs to gain more knowledge about each test and steps to resolve Supplement with other items such as custom scripts and Windows information

Q&A and Contact Information Edward Roepe Perimeter DBA, LLC 4780 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Suite 337 Dunwoody GA 30338 (404) 334-0238 Edward@PerimeterDBA.com www.PerimeterDBA.com Business cards up front