IDENTITY is a property in SQL Server that allows for the automatic numbering of records inserted into a table. It creates an automatic increment with unique values without the need for manual insertion of numbers into the table. This function can be utilized with numeric data types, and its typical use is for identifiers and… Read More »
A table without a primary key (clustered index) is referred to as a heap because it’s just a pile of unordered data. In contrast, a table with a clustered index is better structured into a balanced tree. The primary key itself is a clustered index and every table should have one. An optimized table or… Read More »
From time to time, it’s important to examine the database objects in terms of table size (number of rows and storage) to avoid some performance issues on server. How to Check Table Sizes in a SQL Database If there are not many objects in the database, you can perform the check directly in the properties… Read More »
xp_cmdshell is a very powerful procedure that allows you to execute commands via the command-line (cmd) in SQL Server. With cmdshell, you can perform various operations on a Windows server through the SQL platform, such as copying files, creating, deleting, running bcp for data import and export, and more. However, there are significant security risks… Read More »
SQL Server Agent is a tool integrated into SQL Server that is primarily used for automating and scheduling tasks. Through SQL Agent, you can create Jobs and schedule individual tasks within those Jobs, such as executing scripts, running SSIS packages, using PowerShell, and much more. However, SQL Server Agent is only available in the Standard… Read More »
In the previous article (see Index Fragmentation), I described how to detect index fragmentation using a script that utilizes system tables. According to Microsoft’s recommendations, we should reorganize (REORGANIZE) indexes with fragmentation between 5 – 30% and rebuild (REBUILD) indexes with fragmentation above 30%. We will use the script from the previous article and create… Read More »