Tag Archives: WTF

CPU Load Graphs with Deadlocks

Posted on September 25, 2019 by thomasrushton

Continuing on disappearing down the rabbit hole… Send help! Or coffee! Deadlocks I’m always being asked, sometimes being asked, somebody asked me once “what about the deadlocks? Can you show them on your CPU load graphs?” Oh, go on. First, … Continue reading →

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Ring Buffer CPU Load Discrepancies

Posted on September 23, 2019 by thomasrushton

That’s quite a title. What does it mean? Ring Buffer CPU Load No, nothing to do with Wagner’s Ring Cycle This is about sys.dm_os_ring_buffers, an undocumented DMV that is “…identified for informational purposes only. Not supported. Future compatibility is not … Continue reading →

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Longrunning Query – xp_cmdshell?

Posted on April 25, 2018 by thomasrushton

Flicking through the ol’ Solarwinds activity monitor, I spotted this one day: That four day purple thing on the right? Not good. (The remaining images are from a reconstruction, partly to protect the not-so-innocent, and partly because the first job … Continue reading →

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Recruitment Agency Fail

Posted on April 12, 2012 by thomasrushton

I’ve just received an email from a recruitment consultant. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what they’re looking for. The full body text is reproduced, verbatim, below: Dear Thomas New Vacancy – Job Title – Contract/Perm – Location Your details … Continue reading →

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ETL not working? Redesign the source database!

Posted on April 5, 2012 by thomasrushton

I was invited to attend a conference call to discuss two items attached to the meeting invitation. I had been involved in neither of them until that point. I decline, pointing this out. They insist. So I dial in, and … Continue reading →

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Ignoring the “T” of “ETL”

Posted on July 25, 2011 by thomasrushton

ETL.  You know what it stands for, I know what it stands for. Extract.  Transform.  Load. A simple enough concept, you would have thought.  Except those guys (the over-paid third-party consultants) want me to do the “T” part in the … Continue reading →

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Meme Monday: I got 99 SQL problems and the disk ain’t one

Posted on May 3, 2011 by thomasrushton

OK, so I’m late to the party. In my defence, yesterday was a Bank Holiday here in the UK, and for personal reasons I wasn’t even thinking about work. But now I’m back to it, and having been wondering what … Continue reading →

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Lazy programming from MS? Surely not…

Posted on December 21, 2010 by thomasrushton

Another vignette from SQL Server 2005 Management Studio showing a possible lack of attention to detail somewhere… (Speaking of lack of attention to detail, I can’t remember which version of the SSMS had this bug.  I suspect it was RTM, … Continue reading →

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T-SQL Tuesday #13 – Business Briefs

Posted on December 14, 2010 by thomasrushton

The final T-SQL Tuesday of 2010 is hosted by Steve “SQL Server Central” Jones, and is on the loosely-defined subject of “What issues have you had in interacting with the business to get your job done?” As some of you … Continue reading →

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CSV with added ,

Posted on December 7, 2010 by thomasrushton

What’s the Definition of CSV? A simple question, I would have thought, and one that’s answered reasonably comprehensively elsewhere.  However, I note that there appears to be no “official” format definition, but only a de facto standard. Consider the following: … Continue reading →

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