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Notes on analyzing a user minidump with WinDbg
One of my students’ Sql Server 2000 SP4 crashed. I volunteered to see if I could get anything out of it by looking at the dump file with WinDbg. A few notes: 1. The processor or Windows version that the dump file was created on does not need to match the platform on which WinDbg…
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Resource database has been moved to a new location in Sql Server 2008
A new resource database was introduced in Sql Server 2005, and it is still with us in Sql Server 2008. In both editions, you will not be able to see it via Sql Server Management Studio. This hidden database is required. Without it, Sql Server cannot start. In Sql Server 2005, mssqlsystemresource.mdf and mssqlsystemresource.ldf are…
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What does syspolicy_purge_history job do
After a brand new Sql Server 2008 installation or upgrade from a previous version, a job will be created during the installation/upgrade process: syspolicy_purge_history. What does it do? Before answering that question, here is a little background. Sql Server 2008 introduced a new feature called Policy Management. For example, one could define a policy that…
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Thinking of Ken Henderson during PASS conference
Sql Server 2008 is here, and Microsoft is busy working on the next release. But let me tell you, there are still tons of Sql Server 2000 out there. So far this year, I spent well over 2/3 of my time working on Sql Server 2000 projects. Clients know they need to move to the…
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Convert character set to utf8 in MySQL
Update: If you are interested in automating this task with a simple Perl script, I created one here. Say, you had a MySQL database that stores texts in languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, and so on, and recently there was a server move or upgrade, and all of sudden text in the…