SQL Journey

A blog about real-life SQL Server Troubleshooting, providing solutions that actually work. By a SQL Server Enthusiast.

An In-depth look at memory - SQL Server 2012/2014

I finally had some time on my hands, so thought to try and get around to blogging about the memory...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/27/2015

An interesting issue with Peer to Peer Replication

I recently ran into an interesting issue when setting up Peer 2 Peer Replication across 3 instances....

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 10/01/2013

Something to watch out for when using IS_MEMBER() in TSQL

I recently worked on an interesting issue with my good friend Igor (@sqlsantos), where we were...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 08/05/2013

When using SSL, SQL Failover Cluster Instance fails to start with error 17182

I recently worked on an interesting issue with a SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI). We were...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 07/22/2013

SQL 2012 Availability Group does not come up on one instance

I recently came across this interesting issue with SQL 2012 Always on Availability Groups, wherein...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 07/15/2013

SQL Server patch fails with "Could not find any resources appropriate for the specified culture or the neutral culture"

I recently worked on a number of issues where SQL Server Service Pack/patch installation would fail,...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 06/12/2013

How To: Troubleshooting SQL Server I/O bottlenecks

One of the most common reason for server performance issues with respect to SQL Server is the...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 06/03/2013

An interesting issue with SQL Server Script upgrade mode

Here's another common issue that I've seen quite a few people run into of late. When you run a patch...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/15/2013

Why the service account format matters for upgrades

I've seen this issue a few times in the past few months, so decided to blog about this. When...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/01/2013

An in-depth look at SQL Server Memory–Part 3

In part 1 and part 2 of the series, we talked about the memory architecture and the Procedure Cache...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/15/2013

An in-depth look at SQL Server Memory–Part 2

Before you read this, I would strongly recommend reading Part 1 first. The memory architecture...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 02/12/2013

An in-depth look at SQL Server Memory–Part 1

I know that memory management in SQL Server is one area that’s a bit of an enigma for a lot of...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 12/16/2012

How To : SQL 2012 Filetable Setup and Usage

One of the cool things about my job is that I get to work on the latest technologies earlier than...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 11/10/2012

Why the registry size can cause problems with your SQL 2012 AlwaysOn/Failover Cluster setup

I recently worked on a very interesting issue, where one of the cluster nodes in an AlwaysOn...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 10/25/2012

SQL 2008–Service fails to come online with “a valid certificate could not be found, and it is not possible to create a self-signed certificate”

You might run into this situation where SQL Server fails to come online (either with a new install...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 10/09/2012

Migrating TFS from SQL Server Enterprise to Standard can cause problems due to compression

When migrating a Team Foundation Server from SQL Server Enterprise to Standard , you might run into...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 09/03/2012

When DBMail started complaining about the servername being NULL

I recently came across an issue, where, for some reason, DBMail was not working. To be more...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 08/22/2012

An in-depth look at Ghost Records in SQL Server

Ghost records are something that are a bit of an enigma for most folks working with SQL Server, and...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 07/27/2012

The most interesting issue in DB Mirroring you will ever see

I recently worked on a very interesting “issue” in DB mirroring, relevant to a very...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 07/04/2012

Backup database results in error “Could not clear 'DIFFERENTIAL' bitmap in database”

I recently ran into yet another issue, where the error message had absolutely no relation to the...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 06/25/2012

How a tiny little whitespace can make life difficult for your SQL Cluster

Remember that tiny little whitespace that we tend to ignore most of the time? Believe it or not,...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 06/15/2012

SQL 2008/2008 R2/2012/2014 setup disappears/fails when installing Setup Support files

I’m sure many of you would have seen this issue when running SQL 2008/2008 R2/2012/2014 setup on a...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 05/07/2012

The ‘NULL’ Debate, and a few other interesting facts

This is for all my developer friends out there. I recently had a very interesting discussion with a...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/18/2012

SQL Server Resource database corruption–yes, it’s possible

It’s very rare that I run into an issue with the Resource database, and the one I ran into...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/09/2012

SQL, Sharepoint and the Windows Internal Database – an interesting saga

This one is for all my friends out there who use Sharepoint. A default Sharepoint installation...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/06/2012

How to replace/restore start menu shortcuts for any program

Okay, let me admit first up that this is not an out and out SQL Server issue, but one of those...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/05/2012

SQL 2005 patch fails with 1642 “Unable to install Windows Installer MSP file”

This one is for all my DBA friends out there. I recently ran into this issue when running a security...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 04/03/2012

SQL 2005 Patch on cluster might fail with “No Passive nodes were successfully patched”

This is one of those “rare” setup issues you might run into, on a “Bad luck”...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/27/2012

Access Violation dumps and metadata corruption

This is an issue that I had been busy working on these past few days. We were getting AV dumps on...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/26/2012

VSS backups might cause SQL to generate Non-Yielding Scheduler dumps if Backup verification is turned on

Found an interesting Non-Yielding scheduler recently. Opened the dump, and found function calls...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/20/2012

An interesting “Issue” with adding Windows Logins in SQL Server

Now here’s one that had me stumped for quite some time. A brief description of the issue:-1. I...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/20/2012

Windows Server 2003 - KB 2463332 for Windows Internal Database fails to install

This is an interesting issue that I ran into, and took some time to find out the steps for...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/19/2012

SQL Server Patch installation fails with error 1603

Ran into this interesting issue recently. I was trying to install a patch on SQL, and it failed. I...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/19/2012

SQL 2008/R2 setup fails with "Wait on the database engine recovery handle failed"

When installing SQL Server 2008/2008 R2, you might come across a situation where the setup fails...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/15/2012

An interesting find about Temp tables in SQL Server

I ran into a very interesting issue with temp tables recently. The issue description goes something...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/15/2012

Implementing SSL encryption for SQL Server in a DNS forwarding environment

Let’s say you have an environment which implements DNS forwarding. In such a setup, the client...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/15/2012

SQL Server Service Pack installation may fail if your instance name is a Windows reserved word

Okay, so I woke up one morning and decided that this was a good day to patch my SQL Server 2008 R2...

Author: HarshDeep_Singh Date: 03/15/2012