I recently recently got some very helpful clarification from a friend at Microsoft about Microsoft’s plans for how they will be servicing SQL Server 2012 over the rest of 2013, and how these plans will work with their mainstream support policy. I don’t think this is any great change, but it is a welcome explanation [...]
Glenn Berry
Semi-random musings about SQL Server performance
Clarification of Microsoft’s SQL Server 2012 Servicing and Support Policy
Posted on: March 28, 2013 12:31 pm
What is the Difference Between Physical Sockets, Physical Cores, and Logical Cores?
Posted on: March 25, 2013 3:32 pm
I witnessed an interesting conversation on Twitter today where someone was talking about how he uses the terms sockets and cores interchangeably, since everyone else does, or words to that effect. This made me think that there may still be some confusion about how these terms are used and what they mean in relation to [...]
Microsoft DreamSpark Program
Posted on: March 25, 2013 1:56 pm
Back in 2008, Microsoft rolled out the DreamSpark program as a means to get Microsoft software design and development tools in the hands of students at no charge. It was initially only for university or college students, but it has been expanded to also cover high school students. Basically, this means that any high school, [...]
Speaking at SQLSaturday #201 in Orange County on April 19-20
Posted on: March 24, 2013 3:43 pm
I will be speaking on both Friday and Saturday (April 19-20) at SQLSaturday #201 in Orange County, California. I will be delivering a full day pre-con on Friday, and then doing both Hardware 201 and Dr. DMV on Saturday. Here is the abstract for my pre-con: Scaling SQL Server 2012 How can you scale SQL [...]
CPUID PerfMonitor 2 Utility
Posted on: March 24, 2013 3:08 pm
CPUID has released a new processor performance and monitoring tool called PerfMonitor 2, which allows you to track four processor-related counters chosen from a processor-specific list. It lets you see things like overall CPU temperature, package and core temperatures, package power usage, L2 and L3 cache hit ratios to name just a few of the [...]
Speaking at SQLSaturday #197 in Omaha on April 5-6
Posted on: March 22, 2013 4:32 pm
I will be speaking on both Friday and Saturday (April 5-6) at SQLSaturday #197 in Omaha, Nebraska. I will be delivering a full day pre-con on Friday, and then doing Hardware 201 on Saturday. Here is the abstract for my pre-con: Scaling SQL Server 2012 How can you scale SQL Server 2012? Scaling up is [...]
Microsoft Offering SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Update
Posted on: March 22, 2013 3:03 pm
Starting on March 14, 2013, Microsoft started offering SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 as an Optional update on Microsoft Update (as shown in Figure 1). That means that it will not be pushed down automatically, and you will not even see it unless you are running Microsoft Update (which is an optional superset of [...]
How to Reclaim Disk Space in your Windows\winsxs directory on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Posted on: March 22, 2013 2:17 pm
I recently helped out someone who was running extremely low on disk space on their system drive, due to a bloated Windows\winsxs directory. This directory is where Windows keeps backup files for various things such as Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. These files allow you to uninstall Service Pack 1, in case you [...]
Speaking at SQLSaturday #188 in Lisbon, Portugal
Posted on: March 6, 2013 9:51 am
I have the opportunity to present a full-day preconference session on Friday, March 15, 2013, and then present two regular sessions on Saturday, March 16, 2013 at SQLSaturday #188 in Lisbon, Portugal. This is the first time I have spoken at a SQLSaturday outside of the United States, and I am really looking forward to [...]
Microsoft Update offering SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 2
Posted on: March 5, 2013 9:33 am
I was doing some routine maintenance on one of the SQLskills lab servers (a pretty nice Dell PowerEdge R720) on Sunday night when I noticed that Microsoft Update (which is a superset of Windows Update) was offering “Update Rollup for SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 (KB2790947)” as an Optional Update for a Windows Server [...]
