Author: Karthick P.K

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How to identify if the query is using Query hints or plan Guides ?

Generally we create plan guide or query hints to improve the performance of the query, but some times it would create problems if not used carefully.

To identify if the query is using plan guide look at the planguidedb attribute in XML plan. Sys.Plan_guides will also have an entry.
Query hints can be identifies by looking at the query.We will see hints like opton (force order),Inner loop join, index = etc
If you are tunning a slow query and if it is using plan guides or query hints first remove the hints and tune the query normally

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Linked server performance might be affected because of Remote Scan

In linked server queries when you use filtered query (Where clause) filtering may not be remoted, entire data is fetched locally from remote server and filtering happens locally hence will cause severe performance impact. You will find “Remote Scan”  operator in plan in this case. When filtering is remote you will see “Remote query” operator instead of remote scan.
 
How to fix it?
DynamicParameters and NestedQueries in the provider you are using should play a role here (Object exploreràServer objects à Linked servers  àProviders à Choose the provider you are using in linked server (Ex: SQLOLEDB) and enable  DynamicParameters and NestedQueries ). DynamicParameters setting should enable providers to support parameterized queries. If you enable it probably “remote scan” would switch to “remote query” and filtering will be happen on remote server instead of fetching the data locally and filtering.

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Limiting the number connections to SQL Server database

If you would like to

1. Limit the number connections to SQL Server database.
2. Restrict connections to SQL server from tools like SSMS (or) You dont want non-sysadmins to connect with SQL Server except from application.

We can acheive all this by creating logon triggers.

Sample 1
=======
USE master;
GO
CREATE LOGIN login_test WITH PASSWORD = ‘3KHJ6dhx(0xVYsdf’ MUST_CHANGE,
    CHECK_EXPIRATION = ON;
GO
GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO login_test;
GO
CREATE TRIGGER connection_limit_trigger
ON ALL SERVER WITH EXECUTE AS ‘login_test’
FOR LOGON
AS
BEGIN
IF ORIGINAL_LOGIN()= ‘login_test’ AND
    (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sys.dm_exec_sessions
            WHERE is_user_process = 1 AND
                original_login_name = ‘login_test’) > 3
    ROLLBACK;
END;

Sample 2
=======
This trigger filters restricts other applications to access the database other than the  APPname (replace your application name with APPname)
Declare @role numeric(1)
select @role= IS_SRVROLEMEMBER (‘sysadmin’);
if @role1
begin
if (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sys.dm_exec_sessions
            WHERE is_user_process = 1 AND
              program_name’APPName’ and
                original_login_name in (select suser_sname()))>0
Rollback;
end;

Note: we can use sp_configure ‘user connections’  to limit the number of connections to SQL Server.

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JOB does not exist in the job cache

Error:
Job  does not exist in the job cache: attempting to re-acquire it from the server
Warning,[156] Job does not exist in the job cache
Error 22022 JOB does not exist in the job cache

Cause 1:
1. Expand the SQL Server SSMS
2. select the SQLAGENT
3. Right click and select properties
4.Check the properties in the connection TAB at SQL Server.
Check if SQL Server alias is pointing to different server. If yes change it back to default and restart SQL Server

Cause 2:
In correct MSX/TSX configuration or MSX/TSX

Cleaned up system tables related to MSX-TSX in MSDB and reconfigure MSX/TSX configuration and jobs.
systargetservergroupmembers
systargetservergroups
systargetservers
You can run ‘sp_msx_enlist’ at target server and check the output error if there has some error happened.

Cause 3:
Disable encryption.certificate validation are enabled for connections between master servers and target servers by default.
   a) “Start”->”run”->type “regedit” at ‘GSHJRQA’ server.
   b) Navigate to \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\\SQLServerAgent\MsxEncryptChannelOptions(REG_DWORD)
   c) Change “MsxEncryptChannelOptions” value from 2 to 0.

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The article ‘(null)’ does not exist

Trans Replication is failing with error while adding the subscription

Error:  “The article ‘(null)’ does not exist.”
This seems to be know issue when there is difference  is number of article between sysarticles and msarticles.
– select count(*) from sysarticles on publisher
– select count(*) from MSarticles on distributor

Once you get the articles which exists in one table and not in other use exec sp_droparticle to remove that article and add it back using exec sp_addarticle

Note:We might get this error if we have two tables with same name in databases with case sensitive collation and replicate them (Ex: table and TABLE )

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SQLServer Query optimization

Do you have a slow SQLServer query and wanted to tune it… Tuning slow queries in SQL Server and making them run faster is not complex. Follow the query tunning steps in http://mssqlwiki.com/2012/11/06/tuning-sql-server-query/.

Below is extract from above article. If you would like to read the complete steps read above article.

Before you start troubleshooting the query which is running for longer duration, Identify if the query is slow because it is long waiting (or) Long running (or) Long compiling.

Compile time: Time taken to compile the query. compile time can be identified by looking at the

1. CompileTime=”n” in XML plan

2. SQL Server parse and compile time when Set statistics time on is enabled.

CPU time: Time taken by the query in CPU (Execution time – (compile time+ wait time). CPU time can be identified by looking at the

1. CPU column in profiler.

2. CPU time under SQL Server Execution Times when statistics time on is enabled.

Execution time: Time taken by the query for complete execution ( Execution time +CPU time +Wait time). Total duration of the query can be identified by using the

1.Duration column in profiler

2. SQL Server Execution Times, elapsed times when statistics time on is enabled.

What is long waiting query?

A query is considered to be long waiting query, when it spend most of its time waiting for some resource.

How to identify if the query is long waiting?

Long running query can be identified by comparing the CPU and duration column in profiler (or) CPU and elapsed time when statistics time on is set .

When a query is waiting for a resource (such as lock, network I/O, Page_I/O Etc) it will not consume CPU. So if you see duration being higher than CPU (Difference between Duration and CPU is wait time),It indicates that the query has spent large amount of time waiting for some resource.

Let us see an example of long waiting query. I have collected profiler trace while executing the query.

set statistics io on

set statistics time on

go

–Place your query here

select top 10000 * from a

go

set statistics io off

set statistics time off

go

Look at the Duration and CPU column in the profiler Cpu=256 and duration =1920. So this query has spent majority of time waiting for some resource.

Look at the output of statistics time and statistics I/O in above image.

SQL Server has spent only 2 milliseconds compiling the query and 256 milliseconds on CPU, but the overall duration was 1920 milliseconds so the query has spent maximum time waiting for some resource.

Identify the resource in which this query is waiting on using one of the steps listed below.

1. Look at the wait type column of the sysprocesses for the spid which is executing query while the query is executing.

2. If there is no other activity on the server collect sys.dm_os_wait_stats output before and after the query execution and identify the wait (Will not help in tuning queries running for short duration)

3. Collect XEvent to gather the wait stats of individual query.

Once you identify the resource in which the query is waiting on tune the resource. Most of the times queries would be slow waiting for below resource.

PAGEIOLATCH_* or Write log: This indicates I/O resource bottleneck follow the detailed troubleshooting steps mentioned in This Link to fix the I/O bottleneck. If you find SQL Server spawning excessive I/O Create necessary indexes.

a. Logical reads + Physical reads in statistics I/O output (Refer above image) or Reads and writes in profiler will indicate the I/O posted by this query. If you see very high reads for query compared with the result rest retuned by query it is an indication of missing indexes or bad plan. Create necessary indexes (You can use DTA for index recommendations.).

PAGELATCH_*: This waittype in sysprocesses indicates that SQL Server is waiting on access to a database page, but the page is not undergoing physical IO.

a. This problem is normally caused by a large number of sessions attempting to access the same physical page at the same time. We should Look at the wait resource of the spid The wait_resource is the page number (the format is dbid:file:pageno) that is being accessed.

b. We can use DBCC PAGE to identify object or type of the page in which we have the contention. Also it will help us to determine whether contention is for allocation, data or text.

c. If the pages that SQL Server is most frequently waiting on are in Tempdb database ,check the wait resource column for a page number in dbid 2 Ex(2:1:1 or 1:1:2). Enable TF 1118 and increase the number of TEMPDB data files and size them equally (You may be facing tempdb llocation latch contention mentioned in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328551)

d. If the page is in a user database, check to see if the table has a clustered index on a monotonic key such as an identity where all threads are contending for the same page at the end of the table. In this case we need to choose a different clustered index key to spread the work across different pages.

LATCH_*: Non-buf latch waits can be caused by variety of things. We can use the wait resource column in sysprocesses to determine the type of latch involved(KB 822101).

a. A very common LATCH_EX wait is due to running a profiler trace or sp_trace_getdata Refer KB 929728 for more information.

b. Auto Grow and auto shrink while query is executed.

c. Queries going for excessive parallelism.

Blocking (LCK*): Use the query in This Link to identify the blocking. Tune the head blocker.

Asynch_network_io (or) network IO: Keep the result set returned by the query smaller. Follow detailed troubleshooting refer This Link

Resource_semaphore waits: Make sure there is no memory pressure on the server Follow steps in This Link for detailed troubleshooting.

SQL Trace: Stop all the profiler traces running on the server. Identify the traces which are running on the server using the query in This Link

Cx packet: Set the Max degree of parallelism. But remember Cxpacket wait type is not always a problem.

a. For servers that have eight or less processors, use the following configuration where N equals the number of processors: max degree of parallelism = 0 to N .

b. For servers that use more than eight processors, use the following configuration: max degree of parallelism = 8.Refer This Link

SOS_SCHEDULER_YIELD : Identify if there is CPU bottleneck on the server. This waiting means that the thread is waiting for CPU.

a. SQL Server worker thread’s Quantum target is 4ms which means the thread(worker) Will ( is expected to) yield back to SQL Server scheduler when it exceeds 4ms and before it yields back it check if there are any other runnable threads, If there is any runnable threads then the thread which is in top of runnable list is scheduled and current thread will go to the tail of the runnable list and will get rescheduled when the other threads which are already waiting in SOS Scheduler (runnable list) finishes its execution or quantum. The time thread spends in runnable list waiting for its quantum is accounted as SOS_SCHEDULER_YIELD. You will see this type when multiple threads are waiting to get CPU cycle. Follow trouble shooting the steps mentioned This Link

Important: In SQL Server instances when there more than 1 CPU it is possible that the CPU is higher than the duration. Because CPU is sum of time spend by query in all the CPU’s when choosing a parallel whereas the duration is actual duration of the query.

What is long running query?

A query is considered to be long running query, when it spend most of its time on CPU and not waiting for some resource.

How to identify if the query is long running ?

Long running query can be identified by comparing the CPU and duration column in profiler (or) CPU and elapsed time when statistics time on is set . If the CPU and duration is close than the query is considered to be long running. If the query is long running identify where the query spend the time ,It could be for compiling or post compilation (For executing the query). compare the duration of the query with CompileTime (XML plan compile time (or) SQL Server parse and compile time when statistics time is on refer above image).

High Compile time:

Compare the duration of the query with Compile Time (XML plan compile time (or) SQL Server parse and compile time when statistics time is on).Compile time will normally be in few millisecond . Follow the below steps if you see high compile time

1. Identify if you have large token perm refer http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927396

2. Create necessary indexes and stats. Tune the query manually (or) in DTA and apply the recommendation

3. Reduce the complexity of query. Query which joins multiple tables (or) having large number of IN clause can taking a while to compile.

4. You can reduce the compile’s by using force parameterization option.

High CPU time:

Compare the duration of the query with Compile Time (XML plan compile time (or) SQL Server parse and compile time when statistics time is on). If the compile time is very low compared to the duration. Then follow the below steps.

1. Update the stats of tables and indexes used by the query (If the stats are up to date Estimated rows and estimated execution will be approximately same in execution plan .If there is huge difference stats are out dated and requires update) .

2. Identify if the query has used bad plan because of parameter sniffing (If the ParameterCompiledValue and ParameterRuntimeValue is different in XML plan). Refer THIS LINK to know more about Parameter Sniffing

3. If updating the stats and fixing the parameter sniffing doesn’t resolve the issue it is more likely optimizer is not able to create efficient plan because of lack of indexes and correct statistics. Run the query which is driving the CPU in database tuning advisor and apply the recommendations. (You will find missing index detail in xml plan but DTA is more efficient).

4. If the query which is running longer and consuming CPU is linked server query try changing the security of linked server to ensure linked server user has ddl_admin or dba/sysadmin on the remote server. More details regarding the issue in THIS LINK.

5. Ensure optimizer is not aborting early and creating bad plan. For details refer THIS LINK

6. Ensure the query which is spiking the CPU doesn’t have plan guides (xml plan will have PlanGuideDB attribute. Also sys.plan_guides will have entries) and query hints(index= or (option XXX join) or inner (Join Hint) join).

7. Ensure that SET options are not changed.

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How to make clustered instance of SQLServer to listen on Multiple IP address?

To make clustered SQL Server instance listen on multiple I/P’s

Add new IP addres Resource type in SQLGroup.

In the dependency list of SQLserver network name add the the new netwok IP Resource If you want the SQLServer to listen on different port with new IP
Restart the SQL Server network name (It will internally restart SQL Server resources)

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1398(There is a time and/or date difference between the client and server.) Backup

Backup database failes with error

“Write on “\\\tes.bak” failed: 1398(There is a time and/or date difference between the client and server.)

Resolution

You will get this error if Kerberos ticket in the SQL Server is expired, restart SQL Server. Also check if Windows Time service is running

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Could not obtain information about Windows NT group/user

SQL Server jobs failling with below error.

The job failed.  Unable to determine if the owner (domain\user) of job test has server access (reason: Could not obtain information about Windows NT group/user ‘domain\user’, error code 0x5. [SQLSTATE 42000] (Error 15404)).
From SQL agent logs we see below errors

2011-02-25 01:00:00 – ! [298] SQLServer Error: 15404, Could not obtain information about Windows NT group/user

1. ADD the SQL Agent service account to the Pre-Windows 2000 Compatible Access Group

2. If SQL Server is running under  localsystem add the computer object to the domain group “Pre-Windows 2000 compatible access”

3. verify if xp_logininfo ‘domain\user’ is successful.

4. Make sure account is not locked

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Deafault extended event system_health

The default extended event system health captures lot of useful information likeclr_allocation_failure
clr_virtual_alloc_failure
memory_broker_ring_buffer_recorded
memory_node_oom_ring_buffer_recorded
scheduler_monitor_deadlock_ring_buffer_recorded,
scheduler_monitor_non_yielding_iocp_ring_buffer_recorded,
scheduler_monitor_non_yielding_ring_buffer_recorded,
scheduler_monitor_non_yielding_rm_ring_buffer_recorded,
scheduler_monitor_stalled_dispatcher_ring_buffer_recorded,
scheduler_monitor_system_health_ring_buffer_recorded,
connectivity_ring_buffer_recorded
error_reported
security_error_ring_buffer_recorded
xml_deadlock_report

We can verify them using below scripts

 


SELECT *,
CAST([target_data] as XML) [target_data]
FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets a
INNER JOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions b ON b.[address] = a.[event_session_address]
--WHERE b.[name] = 'system_health'

 

CREATE EVENT SESSION [system_health] ON SERVER
ADD EVENT sqlclr.clr_allocation_failure(
    ACTION(package0.callstack,sqlserver.session_id)),
ADD EVENT sqlclr.clr_virtual_alloc_failure(
    ACTION(package0.callstack,sqlserver.session_id)),
ADD EVENT sqlos.memory_broker_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.memory_node_oom_ring_buffer_recorded(
    ACTION(package0.callstack,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_stack)),
ADD EVENT sqlos.scheduler_monitor_deadlock_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.scheduler_monitor_non_yielding_iocp_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.scheduler_monitor_non_yielding_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.scheduler_monitor_non_yielding_rm_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.scheduler_monitor_stalled_dispatcher_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.scheduler_monitor_system_health_ring_buffer_recorded,
ADD EVENT sqlos.wait_info(
    ACTION(package0.callstack,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text)
    WHERE ([duration]>(15000) AND ([wait_type]>(31) AND ([wait_type]>(47) AND [wait_type]<(54) OR [wait_type]<(38) OR [wait_type]>(63) AND [wait_type]<(70) OR [wait_type]>(96) AND [wait_type]<(100) OR [wait_type]=(107) OR [wait_type]=(113) OR [wait_type]>(174) AND [wait_type]<(179) OR [wait_type]=(186) OR [wait_type]=(207) OR [wait_type]=(269) OR [wait_type]=(283) OR [wait_type]=(284)) OR [duration]>(30000) AND [wait_type]<(22)))),
ADD EVENT sqlos.wait_info_external(
    ACTION(package0.callstack,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text)
    WHERE ([duration]>(5000) AND ([wait_type]>(365) AND [wait_type]<(372) OR [wait_type]>(372) AND [wait_type]<(377) OR [wait_type]>(377) AND [wait_type]<(383) OR [wait_type]>(420) AND [wait_type]<(424) OR [wait_type]>(426) AND [wait_type]<(432) OR [wait_type]>(432) AND [wait_type]<(435) OR [duration]>(45000) AND ([wait_type]>(382) AND [wait_type]<(386) OR [wait_type]>(423) AND [wait_type]<(427) OR [wait_type]>(434) AND [wait_type]<(437) OR [wait_type]>(442) AND [wait_type]<(451) OR [wait_type]>(451) AND [wait_type]<(473) OR [wait_type]>(484) AND [wait_type]<(499) OR [wait_type]=(365) OR [wait_type]=(372) OR [wait_type]=(377) OR [wait_type]=(387) OR [wait_type]=(432) OR [wait_type]=(502))))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.connectivity_ring_buffer_recorded(SET collect_call_stack=(1)),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.error_reported(
    ACTION(package0.callstack,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([severity]>=(20) OR ([error_number]=(17803) OR [error_number]=(701) OR [error_number]=(802) OR [error_number]=(8645) OR [error_number]=(8651) OR [error_number]=(8657) OR [error_number]=(8902)))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.security_error_ring_buffer_recorded(SET collect_call_stack=(1)),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.sp_server_diagnostics_component_result(SET collect_data=(1)
    WHERE ([sqlserver].[is_system]=(1) AND [component]<>(4))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.xml_deadlock_report
ADD TARGET package0.event_file(SET filename=N'system_health.xel',max_file_size=(5),max_rollover_files=(4)),
ADD TARGET package0.ring_buffer(SET max_events_limit=(5000),max_memory=(4096))
WITH (MAX_MEMORY=4096 KB,EVENT_RETENTION_MODE=ALLOW_SINGLE_EVENT_LOSS,MAX_DISPATCH_LATENCY=120 SECONDS,MAX_EVENT_SIZE=0 KB,MEMORY_PARTITION_MODE=NONE,TRACK_CAUSALITY=OFF,STARTUP_STATE=ON)
GO

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Deferred update instead of direct

Although we dont update the column of unique constraint we might verywell end up with defererred update if you dont pass all the coulumns of PK contraint in where clause of the update query. We have to review all update statements to check if all columns of unique constraint is passed in where clause.

 Assume you fire below query on table with below constraint

 CONSTRAINT [PK_] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
 c1  ASC,
 c2 ASC
 )

update table xx set xx=1 where pk1=1 and xx2=2

It is possible that multiple rows will be returned by the where clause in the update,hence breaks the requirements for a direct update (it is considered to be a multirow update because of the where clause)
Althought you did not update PK columns ,your search argument did not specify value for all the columns used to create index ,so you might end with deferred update

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CACHESTORE_SQLCP will increase when you run backup

CACHESTORE_SQLCP increases continuously when we run the backup.
When you run the database/Tlog backup very frequently or for the databases with large number of files/file groups CACHESTORE_SQLCP increases
We can identify the issue by using below queries

Select text,a.*from sys.dm_exec_cached_plans a cross apply sys.dm_exec_sql_text(plan_handle)  order by size_in_bytes desc
Go

Select p.plan_handle,CONVERT (varchar, GETDATE(), 126) AS runtime, LEFT (p.cacheobjtype + ' (' + p.objtype + ')', 35) AS cacheobjtype
,p.usecounts, p.size_in_bytes / 1024 AS size_in_kb, stat.total_worker_time/1000 AS tot_cpu_ms,
stat.total_elapsed_time/1000 AS tot_duration_ms, stat.total_physical_reads, stat.total_logical_writes, stat.total_logical_reads,
LEFT (CASE WHEN pa.value=32767 THEN 'ResourceDb' ELSE ISNULL (DB_NAME (CONVERT (sysname, pa.value)),
CONVERT (sysname,pa.value))END, 40) AS dbname,sql.objectid, CONVERT (nvarchar(50),
CASE WHEN sql.objectid IS NULL THEN NULL ELSE REPLACE (REPLACE (sql.[text],CHAR(13), ' '), CHAR(10), '')END) AS procname,
REPLACE (REPLACE (SUBSTRING (sql.[text], stat.statement_start_offset/2 + 1, CASE WHEN stat.statement_end_offset = -1
THEN LEN (CONVERT(nvarchar(max), sql.[text]))
ELSE stat.statement_end_offset/2 - stat.statement_start_offset/2 + 1 END), CHAR(13), ' '), CHAR(10), ' ') AS stmt_text
FROM sys.dm_exec_cached_plans p OUTER APPLY sys.dm_exec_plan_attributes (p.plan_handle) pa INNER JOIN sys.dm_exec_query_stats stat
ON p.plan_handle = stat.plan_handle OUTER APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text (p.plan_handle) AS sql
WHERE pa.attribute = 'dbid' ORDER BY p.plan_handle DESC

Go

 
Resolution

SQL Server 2008
There is a fix for this issue in SQL server 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961323

SQL Server2005
There is no Fix for SQL Server 2005. You can follow some workarounds
Since all the plans (problematic) are created for MSDB. You can use dbcc flushprocindb(4) —  to flush the plans of msdb without touching the plans of other databases (4 is database id of MSDB) .
You can add a new step to backup job created by maintenance plan to run dbcc flushprocindb(4) every time backup completes. So the plans created in MSDB will be flushed immediately after the backup.

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dbcc dbredindex/Alter index (or) update stats which should run first

dbcc dbredindex/Alter index (or) update stats which should run first?

Statistics created manually or by auto create stats will not be updated by ALTER INDEX ALL ON table.

If you run dbcc dbredindex on a table , it will update stats on index indx with 100% sampling, but the stats created by auto create stats and manually created stats are updated with default sampling percentage.

Now choose your self.

 

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Update statistics with full scan or sample?

Should I choose full scan while I update the statistics?

In an ideal situation, if data is 100% random and 100% even distributed, 10% sampling should be as accurate as full scan. But any uneven distribution of data can cause inaccuracy both with sampling and even with full scan.
In short, with skewed data, update stats with sampling can be less accurate than full scan ,but important fact is full scan will also not be accurate.

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Can high number of connection cause SQL Server to refuse connection?

sp_configure “user connections” will decide the maximum number of simultaneous user connections allowed on SQL Server.Default value for user connections is 32767. So unless we hange the value it wouldnt cause problems.

Connections will be refused if we exceeded max worker threads. Look at the SQL Server error log and identify if there are deadlocked scheduler dumps. If there is follow the steps in http://mssqlwiki.com/2010/06/15/how-to-analyze-deadlocked-schedulers-dumps/ identify on what resource your sessions are waiting (Not excatly session. It is thread or session with threads associated with it).

When you have the issue look at sysprocesses for session with Kpid and identify where they are waiting and check if the active sessions (Sessions with KPID) exceeded max worker threads.

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sp_send_dbmail blocked and waittype is preemptive_os_getprocaddress

This will happen if you use user transaction when calling sp_send_dbmail. Do not call sp_send_dbmail with in user transaction.If you open a transaction and
send a mail with some attachment in first connection and dont commit . Open a second connection and send a mail using sp_send_dbmail it will not be queued and wait
till the first connection commits.You will also see preemptive_os_getprocaddress wait for second connection

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Same value for min server memory and max server memory in SQL server

SQL Server memory management is designed to dynamically adjust the committed memory based on the amount of available memory on the system.

SQL Server uses CreateMemoryResourceNotification to create a memory resource notification object and SQL Server Resource monitor threads calls QueryMemoryResourceNotification every time it runs to identify if there is any notification. If a low memory notification comes from Windows, SQL Server scales down its memory usage.

How much it scales down?
Till “Min server memory”  (If there is continous memory pressure on the system).
What happens when you set Max server memory and min server memory to same value?
Ans:SQL Server will never scale down its memory usage even when there is memory pressure system wide (Lowphysicalmemory notification  set at system level)

What are the affects?
Ans:If LPM is not enabled SQL Server’s working set will be paged. If LPM is enabled system will starve for memory  and non-bpool will be paged.

Refer http://mssqlwiki.com/2012/06/27/a-significant-part-of-sql-server-process-memory-has-been-paged-out/ for more details.

Cap the SQL Server MAX Server Memory after considering the memory required by other applications, Operating system, Drivers , SQL Server Non- Bpool allocations etc. Make sure you have adequate available physical memory even when the system is under heavy load.

Make sure you have all the fixes for working set trim refer http://mssqlwiki.com/sqlwiki/sql-performance/windows-2008-and-windows-2008-r2-known-issues-related-to-working-set-memory/

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Invalid column name ‘originator_id’. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 207)

Create replication fails on database which is migrated from SQL Server 2005 with error

Error:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch. (Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo)
——————————
Invalid column name ‘originator_id’. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 207)

Resolution:
1.  Add originator_id  column to syspublications table in publication db. Run below query in your   publication DB.

    ALTER TABLE dbo.syspublications ADD [originator_id] [int] NULL;

2. Add a column originator_id  into the view dbo.syspublications inside distribution database

3. Add a originator_id  column into IHpublications table in distribution database

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UPDATE STATISTICS WITH SAMPLE take longer then FULLSCAN

UPDATE STATISTICS WITH SAMPLE take longer then FULLSCAN and consumes more tempdb

Recently there was a question in MSDN forum about time and tempdb taken by update statistics with full scan and sampling.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/sqldatabaseengine/thread/eee70106-94aa-4140-82bf-654352f82d8f
Question was why full scan completes faster than sampling

I was trying to reproduce this behavior in one of my lab server.

1.When I was updating the statistics with n% sampling for the Clustered Index on Table(Which had clustered and non-clustered index ), SQL Server choses a non-clustered index to do the scan. Here the data scanned/fetched was in the order of the non-clustered index keys. Hence we need to SORT them once based on the clustered index keys to generate the statistics. Sort was consuming time and we also used tempdb to create the worktables.

2 .On the other side when I was using update stats with fullscan SQL Server chooses a “clustered index scan” to do the scan. Since the data was already sorted in clustered index, sort was avoided and update stats completed faster.

Why optimizer used non-clustered index to do the scan when I was using n% sampling ?
As we are using a non-clustered index to scan the rows, we effectively get lot lesser rows into the memory from disk when compared with using a clustered index to scan the rows. The decision about which index to use was cost based. As we know SQL Server is a cost based optimizer it chooses the index that can provide the results with lesser subtree cost.
If I wouldn’t have got that non-clustered index , then sampling might have run faster.
There is no straight answer “It depends“.You have to look at the plan of update stats and troubleshoot/Identify the cause like you do for any other slow queries.