OK maybe not “harder” but I just found a DMV that I didn’t know existed that is going to help me make “better, faster, stronger” an old way of doing things.

I wrote a blog post back in 2009 called: Check SQL Server Agent Status on all SQL Servers

This scripted used the sysprocesses table to check for the existence of a row where the program_name = ‘SQLAgent – Generic Refresher’.  If the row existed then that told me the SQL Server Agent was up and running.

While poking around SQL 2012 CTP3 I stumbled upon the sys.dm_server_services DMV (which basically returns information about the SQL Server and SQL Server Agent services… information like whether or not they are running ).

I thought I’d check books online to see if this was something new introduced in SQL 2012 and apparently this has been around since SP1 of SQL 2008 R2.

Whenever I find something like this and can tweak / fix /modernize something I’ve used for what seems like forever I feel like I’m evolving

If you’d like to chat with me about this or anything else (SQL or other) please leave a comment or hit me up on my Twitter: @ColinStasiuk

SELECT *
FROM   dbo.sysfiles 
WHERE  (status & 0x40) <> 0

So if you’re like me and don’t have all the bit compares memorized for all the tables you probably didn’t know that this is how (in SQL 2000) you would query the current database to find all the transaction log files. 

Every now and again I take for granted the major jump that was SQL 2000 to SQL 2005 and little things like this just show me how much happier I am working in a SQL 2005/2008 environment. 

Let me channel my inner Naughty By Nature here:

You down with DMV…. yeah you know me
You down with DMV… yeah you know me

(Sorry I’m still hurting from not winning SQL Fool’s Rap Contest  )

DAMN YOU  My humble congratulations to Steve “Flavor Flav” Jones

Now if you were to come across this code:

SELECT * 

FROM   sys.database_files

WHERE  type_desc = 'LOG'



Wouldn’t you have a much better idea as to what the query is trying to accomplish?

Anyways just another (albeit small) reason why I’m glad to be leaving SQL 2000 in the past.

Enjoy!!

sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features

This is great. This new DMV gives you a nice quick view of the features that your database uses that are restricted to only Enterprise or Developer editions of SQL Server. Some examples of this (listed in BOL) are:

Compression. Indicates that at least one table or index uses data compression or the vardecimal storage format.

Partitioning. Indicates that the database contains partitioned tables, partitioned indexes, partition schemes, or partition functions.

TransparentDataEncryption. Indicates that a database is encrypted by using transparent data encryption.

ChangeCapture. Indicates that a database has change data capture enabled.

Below is some code to
   Create a Test Database
   SELECT from sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features
   Enable Change Data Capture
   SELECT from sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features
   Drop the Test Database

CREATE DATABASE TestDatabase
GO
USE TestDatabase
GO
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features;
GO
EXEC sys.sp_cdc_enable_db
GO
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features;
GO
USE MASTER
GO
DROP DATABASE TestDatabase

So if you’re looking to backup a database from an Enterprise or Developer instance and restore it to a instance that is not Enterprise or Developer edition have a look at this DMV and potentially save yourself some headaches.

Enjoy!!!