This table shows the SP1 CU builds that have been released so far.

Table 1: SQL Server 2012 SP1 CU Builds

You can follow the KB article link below to see all of the CU builds for the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 branch.

The SQL Server 2012 builds that were released after SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 was released

Like I did in my previous post, I decided to scan the hotfix list for all of the Cumulative Updates in the SP1 branch, looking for performance and general reliability-related fixes for the SQL Server Database Engine. I came up with the list below, but this is completely arbitrary on my part. You may come up with a completely different list, based on what SQL Server 2012 features you are using.

Here are the fixes in the RTM branch, before Service Pack 1 was released:

SQL Server 2012 RTM Cumulative Update 1  (Build 11.0.2316) , 65 total public hot fixes

FIX: Low CPU spikes at a set interval even without user activity in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Slow performance when an AFTER trigger runs on a partitioned table in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: It takes a long time to restore a database in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2008 or in SQL 2012

FIX: Poor performance when you run a query that contains correlated AND predicates in SQL Server 2008 or in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Slow performance occurs in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012 if high CPU usage is observed with contention over the QUERY_EXEC_STATS spinlock

FIX: Out-of-memory error when you run SQL Server 2012 on a computer that uses NUMA

SQL Server 2012 RTM Cumulative Update 2  (Build 11.0.2325) , 37 total public hot fixes

FIX: An access violation occurs intermittently when you run a query against a table that has a columnstore index in SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2012 RTM Cumulative Update 3  (Build 11.0.2332) , 35 total public hotfixes

FIX: Incorrect results when you run a parallel query that uses a columnstore index in SQL Server 2012

Here are the fixes in the Service Pack 1 branch:

SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 1 (Build 11.0.3321), 44 total public hot fixes

FIX: “out of memory” error when you use ODBC with SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2008 R2 or SQL Server 2008

FIX: Performance of a SELECT statement that contains a LIKE operator and an ESCAPE clause is low in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2008 R2 or SQL Server 2008 stops responding and a “Non-yielding Scheduler” error is logged

FIX: Slow performance or deadlock when you restore a database and execute statements at the same time in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Worker threads do not wake up immediately when multiple I/O-intensive tasks are running at the same in SQL Server 2012

FIX: “Process appears to be non-yielding on Scheduler ” error message when you run a query in SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 2 (Build 11.0.3339), 50 total public hot fixes

A database transaction log continues to grow after you upgrade to SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1, SQL Server 2008 SP2 or SQL Server 2008 SP3

FIX: The size of a database file is not reduced when you use the DBCC SHRINKFILE command in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: High CPU usage when you query a binary large object column by using the NOLOCK hint in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Large queries that modify data run slower than expected when many locks accumulate in a SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: A transaction log restore operation takes longer than expected and a 3402 error occurs if a database file is removed in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2012 experiences out-of-memory errors

FIX: Deadlocks occur when you execute a stored procedure to alter a temporary table if lock partitioning is enabled in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Memory leak if you enable the AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS_ASYNC statistics option in SQL Server 2008, in SQL Server 2012 or in SQL Server 2008 R2

FIX: A “non-yielding” error occurs on a server for Service Broker Message Forwarding in SQL Server 2008 R2 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Error 17883 when you run a query on a server that has many CPUs and a large amount of memory in SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 3 (Build 11.0.3349), 38 total public hot fixes

FIX: Access violation when you run a query that contains many constant values in an IN clause in SQL Server 2008 or in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Memory leak when you run queries against a temporary table in a nested stored procedure in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Poor performance in SQL Server 2012 when you run a SQL Server trace

FIX: You experience poor performance when you run a query against an RCSI-enabled table in SQL Server 2012

FIX: CPU spike when there is no load on a server after you install SQL Server 2012 on the server

SQL Server 2012 experiences performance issues in NUMA environments

SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 4 (Build 11.0.3368), 38 total public hot fixes

FIX: Out-of-memory errors related to a memory clerk in SQL Server 2012

FIX: Out of memory error when you build a columnstore index on partitioned tables in SQL Server 2012

Update that improves the Service Broker when you send messages to remote servers in SQL Server 2012 is available

An update is available for SQL Server 2012 Memory Management

FIX: “Non-yielding Scheduler” error occurs when you insert a row in SQL Server 2012

FIX: You may experience performance issues in SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 5 (Build 11.0.3373), 27 total public hot fixes

FIX: Poor performance when you run a query that uses the LIKE operator in the WHERE clause in SQL Server 2008 R2

FIX: Non-yielding scheduler error when you run a stored procedure that uses a TVP in SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 6 (Build 11.0.3381), 24 total public hot fixes

FIX: Slow performance on SQL Server 2012 linked server when you update the data together with different collation on the remote server

FIX: A memory leak occurs when you enable AlwaysOn Availability Groups or SQL Server failover cluster in Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Again, the idea here is to give you some concrete reasons to want to stay current with the latest SQL Server 2012 SP and CU, by pointing out some of the more valuable fixes in each CU in the Service Pack 1 branch.

The post Performance Related Fixes in Post-SQL Server 2012 SP1 Builds appeared first on Glenn Berry.

Figure 1: Update Rollup for SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 (KB2790947) in Microsoft Update

Microsoft Update is an optional component that you have to install on your server or client machine. Once you do that, you will get notifications about certain updates for products like Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, and SQL Server to name a few products that are covered.

When I first saw this optional update, I initially thought it was some sort of special, out-of-band QFE fix for SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1. Then I decided to Bing the KB2790947 article that was referenced (since I don’t memorize KB article numbers like Kimberly L. Tripp does), and I discovered that it was simply SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update 2, which was released on January 21, 2013. This is interesting (at least to me), since Microsoft has always made people jump through some hoops to get a Cumulative Update for SQL Server.

Normally, you have to first discover that a new CU has been released, then you have to find the KB article for it, and then “request the hotfix download”, after which you will get a link e-mailed to you that lets you download a self-extracting executable with the CU setup program. This whole process is somewhat obscure and complicated, and many people seem to have problems understanding how it works.

Even though I am a big proponent of staying current with SQL Server Cumulative Updates (which makes me a target for some criticism), I don’t know if I like CUs being offered as Optional Updates in Microsoft Update. I think you should have a good test and deployment plan in place for whenever you install a SQL Server Service Pack or Cumulative Update on a production SQL Server instance. The complexity of your testing and deployment plan will vary based on your resources and organization, but any testing and any specific deployment plan is much better than having someone just “accidentally” deploy a SQL Server Cumulative Update when they decide to install all of their pending Microsoft Updates.

I would much rather install a Service Pack or Cumulative Update “on purpose” during a maintenance window after the organization had gone through the testing and deployment planning process. I am curious about whether this is actually going to be a change in how SQL Server is serviced going forward, or whether this was a one time occurrence?

What do you think about this?

Update: I have heard from a contact at Microsoft about this subject. Here is what they had to say:

“This was a special case.  This was to address the issue described in KB2793634. The WU will offer either CU2 (if the SP1 instance has taken a hotfix or CU to date) or an individual hotfix if not. The latter of course is to not force customers on the CU servicing train just to obtain the update.”

So, my interpretation is that nothing has really changed as far as Microsoft’s servicing policy goes, since this was just a special case to fix the issue described in KB2793634 with either SP1 CU2 or just an individual hotfix, depending on the previous patch level of your machine.

The post Microsoft Update offering SQL Server 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 2 appeared first on Glenn Berry.

I have asked Microsoft about whether they plan on getting the two branches (RTM and SP1) back in sync, and so far, the answer is no. What this means (unless they change their mind) is that the SQL Server 2012 RTM branch will have new CU releases come out about a month before the “equivalent” release (with the same hotfixes) is released for the SQL Server 2012 SP1 branch. This penalizes people who have done “the right thing” by moving to SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 in a timely fashion. It will also create a problem for people who choose to stay on the latest CU of the RTM branch (to get the most current hotfixes more quickly) when SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 2 is released in late 2013.

Once SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 2 is released, the 2012 RTM branch will be retired, and will be considered a “non-supported service pack” by Microsoft. Someone who is on the latest RTM CU, would have to move to either SP1 or SP2 to be in a fully supported configuration, but they would not want to immediately do this, since both the SP1 and SP2 branches will be behind the RTM branch in terms of released hotfixes. I could see a customer being stuck in this Catch-22 situation for two-three months, until at least a couple of SP2 CUs are released, and the SP2 branch is caught up to the last RTM CU.

The customer could just wait a month, until the next SP1 CU is released, and then install SP1, and then install the latest SP1 CU, but that will involve more installations and more outages than if they did not have this problem. They could also create a Service Pack 1 slipstream installation that incorporated the latest SP1 CU to reduce the amount of installations.

Microsoft could easily fix this issue by getting the RTM and SP1 branches back in synch (either by delaying an upcoming RTM CU by a month or by getting an upcoming SP1 CU ready a month early). At any rate, I can only rant about this so much…

What do you think?  Does having the CUs for SQL Server 2012 be out of synch matter or not?  I am really curious to hear what people think.

The post SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update 2 appeared first on Glenn Berry.