SQL SERVER – Backup Database to Multiple Files (Faster, and more manageable files)

Benefits of writing database backups to multiple files:

  • Backup process can finish faster because it will run using multiple threads
  • Better I/O throughput if you have multiple disk arrays where you can write your  backup files.

Here are two methods of writing your backup to multiple files:

Using SQL Server Management Studio 

Using T-SQL

BACKUP DATABASE [AdventureWorks2014] TO  
DISK = N'C:\SQLBackup\AdventureWorks_backupfile1.bak',  
DISK = N'C:\SQLBackup\AdventureWorks_backupfile2.bak', 
DISK = N'C:\SQLBackup\AdventureWorks_backupfile3.bak',  
DISK = N'C:\SQLBackup\AdventureWorks_backupfile4.bak' 
WITH NOFORMAT, NOINIT,  NAME = N'AdventureWorks2014-Full Database Backup', SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, COMPRESSION,  STATS = 10
GO
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SQL SERVER – Trace Flag 1117 and 1118

Trace flag 1117 will allow us to take care of tempdb contention. It permits us to grow our data files at the same time.

We also use 1118 to prevent tempdb contention. Trace flag 1118  deals with how we allocate extents whether it be mixed extents or uniform extents

These trace flags are enabled by default in SQL Server 2016. For prior versions, you have to manually turn-on these trace flags.

Below are the ways to enable Trace Flags:

To Enable Trace Flags at Startup

Go to Configuration Manager > Select your instance > Choose Properties > Go to Startup Parameters tab.

Enable Trace Flags with DBCC TRACEON/TRACEOFF

Add the -1 to enable it globally on the instance

DBCC TRACEON( 1117, -1)

DBCC TRACEON( 1118, -1)

To see which trace are enabled:

DBCC TRACESTATUS

 

 

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SQL SERVER – Changing MAXDOP and Cost Threshold of Parallelism

Firstly, you have to check out Recommendations and guidelines for the “max degree of parallelism” configuration option in SQL Server .

The KB basically says, if we have 8 or more logical processors in a NUMA node, generally we will get the best performance by setting maxdop to 8 or lower.

Secondly, use the script below to get to instantly get the suggested MAXDOP for your SQL instance.

DECLARE @CoreCount int;
DECLARE @NumaNodes int;

SET @CoreCount = (SELECT i.cpu_count from sys.dm_os_sys_info i);
SET @NumaNodes = (
    SELECT MAX(c.memory_node_id) + 1 
    FROM sys.dm_os_memory_clerks c 
    WHERE memory_node_id < 64
    );

IF @CoreCount > 4 /* If less than 5 cores, don't bother. */
BEGIN
    DECLARE @MaxDOP int;

    /* 3/4 of Total Cores in Machine */
    SET @MaxDOP = @CoreCount * 0.75; 

    /* if @MaxDOP is greater than the per NUMA node
       Core Count, set @MaxDOP = per NUMA node core count
    */
    IF @MaxDOP > (@CoreCount / @NumaNodes) 
        SET @MaxDOP = (@CoreCount / @NumaNodes) * 0.75;

    /*
        Reduce @MaxDOP to an even number 
    */
    SET @MaxDOP = @MaxDOP - (@MaxDOP % 2);

    /* Cap MAXDOP at 8, according to Microsoft */
    IF @MaxDOP > 8 SET @MaxDOP = 8;

    PRINT 'Suggested MAXDOP = ' + CAST(@MaxDOP as varchar(max));
END
ELSE
BEGIN
    PRINT 'Suggested MAXDOP = 0 since you have less than 4 cores total.';
    PRINT 'This is the default setting, you likely do not need to do';
    PRINT 'anything.';
END

 

Cost Threshold Parallelism

Cost Threshold of Parallelism is like a bar that we set to control which queries qualifies to go parallel and which queries are cheap, that it is going to get 1 core no matter what.

The default value is 5 which is very low . The starting value for Cost Threshold of Parallelism is 50.

To change the values of these 2 parameters, execute the scripts below.

-- Change MAXDOP value
EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1;  
GO  
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE;  
GO  
EXEC sp_configure 'max degree of parallelism', 8;  
GO  
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE;  
GO    
 
-- Change Cost Threshold for Parallelism value
EXEC sys.sp_configure N'cost threshold for parallelism', N'50'
GO
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO

-- Verify the changes made
SELECT
	name
	,value
	,value_in_use
	,description
	,is_dynamic
	,is_advanced
FROM
	sys.configurations WITH (NOLOCK)
WHERE
	name IN ('max degree of parallelism','cost threshold for parallelism',)

 

Cheers!

 

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POWERSHELL – Running scripts is disabled on this system (SOLVED)

I encountered the following error after executing a script in Powershell.

The reason for this error is because the Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default. We have to change it to prevent this error by running the script below.

PS C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Verify the change.

PS C:\> get-executionpolicy

You can also run the script below to bypass the policy.

c:\> powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -File script.ps1

Cheers!

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SQL SERVER – Sending HTML Reports to Email Using T-SQL

Below is a script that you can use to send HTML Reports to your email just by using T-SQL. The example below retrieves the disk space usage of the DB Server then sends the report to my email.

 -- Disk Space Usage
USE [master]

begin
set nocount on
/*******************************************************/
/* Enabling Ole Automation Procedures */
exec sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1
RECONFIGURE with override

exec sp_configure 'Ole Automation Procedures', 1
RECONFIGURE with override


/*******************************************************/
DECLARE @hr int
DECLARE @fso int
DECLARE @drive char(1)
DECLARE @odrive int
DECLARE @TotalSize varchar(20) DECLARE @MB Numeric ; SET @MB = 1048576

CREATE TABLE #drives 
(
	drive char(1) PRIMARY KEY, 
	FreeSpace int NULL,
	TotalSize int NULL
) 

INSERT #drives(drive,FreeSpace) 
EXEC master.dbo.xp_fixeddrives 
EXEC @hr=sp_OACreate 'Scripting.FileSystemObject',@fso OUT IF @hr <> 0 
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @fso

DECLARE dcur CURSOR LOCAL FAST_FORWARD
FOR SELECT drive from #drives ORDER by drive
OPEN dcur FETCH NEXT FROM dcur INTO @drive
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS=0

BEGIN
	EXEC @hr = sp_OAMethod @fso,'GetDrive', @odrive OUT, @drive
		IF @hr <> 0 EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @fso EXEC @hr =
		sp_OAGetProperty
		@odrive,'TotalSize', @TotalSize OUT IF @hr <> 0 EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo
		@odrive UPDATE #drives SET TotalSize=@TotalSize/@MB WHERE
		drive=@drive FETCH NEXT FROM dcur INTO @drive
End
Close dcur
DEALLOCATE dcur
EXEC @hr=sp_OADestroy @fso IF @hr <> 0 EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @fso


 
/*******************************************************/
/* Disabling Ole Automation Procedures */
exec sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1
RECONFIGURE with override

exec sp_configure 'Ole Automation Procedures', 0
RECONFIGURE with override
/*******************************************************/

END

	
-- Check LogSpace Usage
DECLARE @SQLString nvarchar(500);
 
SET @SQLString = 'DBCC SQLPERF(LOGSPACE)'

CREATE TABLE #LogSpace
(
	DatabaseName VARCHAR(MAX)
	,LogSize INT
	,LogSpaceUsedPct INT
	,Status INT
)

INSERT INTO #LogSpace
EXEC sp_executesql @SQLString
GO

-- Check failed job

CREATE TABLE #FailedJobs
(	
	ServerName VARCHAR(50)
	,JobName VARCHAR(50)
	,JobStatus VARCHAR (20)
	,LastRunStatus VARCHAR(30)
	,LastRunDate DATETIME
)

INSERT INTO #FailedJobs
SELECT Convert(varchar(20),SERVERPROPERTY('ServerName')) AS ServerName,
j.name AS job_name,
CASE j.enabled WHEN 1 THEN 'Enabled' Else 'Disabled' END AS job_status,
CASE jh.run_status WHEN 0 THEN 'Error Failed'
				WHEN 1 THEN 'Succeeded'
				WHEN 2 THEN 'Retry'
				WHEN 3 THEN 'Cancelled'
				WHEN 4 THEN 'In Progress' ELSE
				'Status Unknown' END AS 'last_run_status',
ja.run_requested_date as last_run_date
FROM
(msdb.dbo.sysjobactivity ja LEFT JOIN msdb.dbo.sysjobhistory jh ON ja.job_history_id = jh.instance_id)
join msdb.dbo.sysjobs_view j on ja.job_id = j.job_id
WHERE ja.session_id=(SELECT MAX(session_id)  from msdb.dbo.sysjobactivity) 
AND jh.run_status = 0
ORDER BY job_name,job_status

-- Check Error logs
declare @Time_Start datetime;
declare @Time_End datetime;
set @Time_Start=getdate()-2;
set @Time_End=getdate();
-- Create the temporary table
CREATE TABLE #ErrorLog (logdate datetime
                      , processinfo varchar(255)
                      , Message varchar(MAX))
-- Populate the temporary table
INSERT #ErrorLog (logdate, processinfo, Message)
EXEC master.dbo.xp_readerrorlog 0, 1, null, null , @Time_Start, @Time_End, N'desc';



-- Create HTML Table for Disk Space Usage Report

DECLARE @tableHTML NVARCHAR(MAX);

SET @TableHTML = N'<H1>Disk Space Usage</H1>' + N'<table border="1">' + N'<tr>' +
				 N'<th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">drive</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">Total(GB)</th>
					<th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">Free(GB)</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">Used(GB)</th>
					<th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">PercentUsed</th>' + CAST ((
			  SELECT td = drive
			  ,''
			  ,td = cast(TotalSize/1024.0 as decimal(8,2)) 
			  ,'' 
			  ,td = cast(FreeSpace/1024.0 as decimal(8,2)) 
			  ,''
			  ,td = cast(TotalSize/1024.0-FreeSpace/1024.0 as decimal(8,2))
			  ,''
			  ,td = cast((TotalSize/1024.0-FreeSpace/1024.0)/(TotalSize/1024.0)*100 as decimal (8,2)) 
	   FROM
			  #drives
	   ORDER BY drive
	   FOR XML PATH('tr')
                    ,TYPE
                ) AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) + N'</table>';



-- Create HTML Table for Log Space Used
DECLARE @tableHTML_LogSpaceUsage NVARCHAR(MAX);

SET @tableHTML_LogSpaceUsage = N'<H1>Log Space Used</H1>' + N'<table border="1">' + N'<tr>' +
				 N'<th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">DatabaseName</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">LogSize(MB)</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">LogSpaceUsedPct</th>' + CAST ((
			  SELECT td = DatabaseName
			  ,''
			  ,td = LogSize
			  ,'' 
			  ,td = LogSpaceUsedPct
	   FROM
			  #LogSpace
	   FOR XML PATH('tr')
                    ,TYPE
                ) AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) + N'</table>';



-- Create HTML Table for Failed Jobs
DECLARE @tableHTML_FailedJobs NVARCHAR(MAX);

SET @tableHTML_FailedJobs = N'<H1>Failed Jobs</H1>' + N'<table border="1">' + N'<tr>' +
							N'<th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">ServerName</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">JobName</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">JobStatus</th>
							  <th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">LastRunStatus</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">LastRunDate</th>' + CAST ((
							  SELECT td = ServerName
								  ,''
								  ,td = JobName
								  ,''
								  ,td = JobStatus
								  ,''
								  ,td = LastRunStatus
								  ,''
								  ,td = LastRunDate
							  FROM
								  #FailedJobs
							  FOR XML PATH('tr')
							               ,TYPE
									  ) AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) + N'</table>';

					
-- Create HTML Table for Error Log
DECLARE @tableHTML_ErrorLog NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET @tableHTML_ErrorLog = N'<H1>Error Log</H1>' + N'<table border="1">' + N'<tr>' +
						  N'<th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">LogDate</th><th bgcolor="#404040"><font color="#FFFFFF">Message</th>' + CAST ((
							SELECT td = LogDate
								,''
								,td = Message
							FROM
								#ErrorLog
							
							WHERE 
								(Message LIKE '%error%' OR Message LIKE '%failed%') AND processinfo NOT LIKE 'logon'
							ORDER BY
								logdate DESC
							 FOR XML PATH('tr')
							               ,TYPE
									  ) AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) + N'</table>';
									  
								
			
-- Send Email
DECLARE @AllTables NVARCHAR(MAX);

IF @tableHTML IS NOT NULL
	SET @AllTables = @tableHTML
	
IF @tableHTML_LogSpaceUsage IS NOT NULL
	SET @AllTables = @AllTables + @tableHTML_LogSpaceUsage

IF @tableHTML_FailedJobs IS NOT NULL
	SET @AllTables = @AllTables + @tableHTML_FailedJobs

IF @tableHTML_ErrorLog IS NOT NULL
	SET @AllTables = @AllTables + @tableHTML_ErrorLog

    EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_send_dbmail @body = @AllTables 
        ,@body_format = 'HTML'
        ,@profile_name = N'DBA'
        ,@recipients = N'ricky.valencia@optimalplus.com'
        ,@Subject = N'Database Health Check Report - ASEKH'



DROP TABLE #FailedJobs
DROP TABLE #LogSpace
DROP TABLE #drives
DROP TABLE #ErrorLog

You may put this script in SQL job.

Use this script as a template for whatever report you may think about.

Cheers!

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