Posts in Database Architecture

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Get Microsoft Windows 8.1 installation media (ISO) for offline update or fresh installation

I just found something I thought I should pass along. Sure, it’s only for the desktop OS, but many if not all of us in this line of work use one. (If you don’t use Windows, or don’t support your own workstation, maybe sharing the info can gain you some brownie points with folks who do.) It was not readily apparent in my searching the web, either: Microsoft has made Windows 8.1 (or 8.1 Pro) installation bits available for download for you and me– and yes, you can install from that media using your retail Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro Product Key.

Not so long ago, one would have had to install Windows 8, then get online for hours to patch it and then upgrade to Windows 8.1. For me, this got in the way of having what I like to call a “gold copy” of a system build. IMO, being networked for so long increases risk exposure, reduces trustworthiness, and otherwise tarnishes the golden-ness of a system build image. What about doing a Windows 8.1 offline update? Keep reading…

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How to get Linux hosts with DHCP IP addresses to show up in Microsoft DNS automatically

This blog post outlines a little trick we use to get Linux-based hosts on a network to show up in Microsoft-based DNS… automagically. This self-registration with DNS usually “just works” in a homogeneous Windows network (famous last words!)– so many folks take it for granted until they need something from the Linux ecosystem. Without setting this up, your options are either A) refer to said machines by IP address only, or B) manually add their hostnames and IPs into DNS, and manually keep those records updated. Keep reading…

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Redundant Indexes Part 1: Identifying Redundant Indexes That Are Not Used To Service Queries

Overview

Indexes are a powerful concept in any RDBMS. They can dramatically increase the performance of queries, but they can also become overly burdensome. Enter redundant, unused indexes. Every index is maintained by SQL Server after every INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. So, if there are indexes on a table that are redundant, and aren’t used to service any SELECT queries, then it is a waste of resources for SQL Server to store and maintain those indexes. This maintenance unnecessarily slows down INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements. So when I found literally dozens of these indexes in each production database in this specific client’s environment, suffice it to say I was shocked.

Keep reading…

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