Author: Steve Stedman

The Silent Killer in Your SQL Server: TempDB Version Store Growth The Silent Killer in Your SQL Server: TempDB Version Store Growth How an invisible process can bring your entire database environment to its knees — and how to detect it early. A Client’s Nightmare: The Day Everything Stopped Last month I got an urgent call from a client. Their production SQL Server had completely locked up. Queries were timing out, users were panicking, and the application was essentially dead. …

How Version Store Bloat Can Bring SQL Server to a Halt and How Database Health Monitor Helps You Catch It Early Read more →

Reasons for Queries with Multiple Execution Plans and How to Find Them SQL Server Performance Tuning often involves identifying and optimizing problematic queries. One common issue that can impact performance is when a single query generates multiple execution plans. Understanding why this happens and how to detect these queries can significantly improve your database performance. Let’s delve into the reasons behind multiple execution plans, including the impact of non-parameterized queries, and the methods to identify them. Why Do Queries Generate …

Multiple Plans – How to Find Them Read more →

SQL Server Performance Tuning can often feel like solving a complex puzzle, with wait types serving as critical clues to understanding where bottlenecks lie. Wait types are essentially indicators of what SQL Server is waiting on when processing queries, whether it’s CPU resources, memory, disk I/O, or locks. By identifying and analyzing these wait types, database administrators can pinpoint the root causes of performance issues and take actionable steps to optimize their systems. In this post, we’ll dive into some …

Common SQL Server Wait Types Read more →

Why Database Health Monitor is the Best Tool for Monitoring SQL Server Performance In the world of SQL Server management, performance monitoring isn’t just a best practice—it’s a necessity. The right tools can be the difference between a smooth-running system and one plagued by bottlenecks, slowdowns, or even crashes. Enter Database Health Monitor: a tool designed specifically with SQL Server in mind, and one that stands out as the best option for monitoring SQL Server Performance. A Tool Built by …

The Best Tool for Monitoring SQL Server Performance Read more →

Boost SQL Server Performance with Stedman Solutions Monitoring Tools Are you struggling with slow database performance or unexpected downtime on your SQL Server? If so, you’re not alone—many businesses face these challenges as their data grows and demands increase. Ensuring optimal performance and reliability is critical to maintaining smooth operations, and that’s where Stedman Solutions Monitoring comes in. This powerful tool is designed to help you identify bottlenecks, prevent issues before they escalate, and keep your SQL Server running at …

Boost SQL Server Performance with Stedman Solutions Monitoring Read more →

How Copy-Only Backups Were Hiding Your Real SQL Server Recovery Chain (And Why We Finally Fixed It) Over the past decade of doing health checks, Performance Tuning engagements, emergency recovery calls, and even the occasional “please tell me we have a good backup” midnight panic, one issue shows up more often than almost anything else: total confusion caused by copy-only backups created by VM-level snapshot tools. For years the Backup Status Report inside Database Health Monitor did exactly what every …

Backup Status in Database Health Monitor Just Got a Major Overhaul Read more →

Every year during audit and compliance season, support tickets flood in with the same urgent request: DBAs need a fully automated, hands-off way to generate the same comprehensive SQL Server health reports they create manually in the Database Health Monitor GUI — without ever launching the app. They want a scheduled task that runs at 3 AM (or any interval) to connect to one or many instances, collect all diagnostic data, and deliver a professional report to a shared folder …

Faster, Smarter Automation with the Latest Command-Line Updates in Database Health Monitor Read more →

Grab a blanket and get comfortable. It’s story time with Steve Stedman and Derrick Bovenkamp! In this 10 min video they will share with you database corruption stories. From these stories hopefully you’ll learn what not to do. Things to watch out for to avoid SQL Server corruption. Transcription: Steve Stedman 0:04Let’s roll onto the corruption stories. So the first one we’re going to talk about here was one of the first really big corruption repairs that I did after …

Steve and Derrick – Tales of Database Corruption Read more →

If you’ve ever stared at a slow-running query at 2 a.m. wondering “What setting did I forget this time?”, you’re not alone. Most DBAs and accidental DBAs wear a dozen hats, and SQL Server has hundreds of knobs that can quietly hurt performance, security, or reliability long before anyone notices. That’s exactly why we built DBAssistant inside Database Health Monitor — to act as your always-on virtual senior DBA that never sleeps, never takes vacation, and never sends passive-aggressive emails. …

Unlock Expert-Level SQL Server Optimization with DBAssistant Read more →