Windows Server Semi-annual Channel

Yes as detailed here
 
“There will be two primary release channels available to Windows Server customers, the Long-term Servicing Channel, and the new Semi-annual Channel.”
 
When installing SQL Server the key thing to remember is:
 
“Windows Server products in the Semi-annual Channel will have new releases available twice a year, in spring and fall. Each release in this channel will be supported for 18 months from the initial release.”
 
18 months = 1.5 years so not very long and given that SQL Server releases are typically every 2 years, I’m not sure how viable this the new Semi-annual Channel will be for hosting SQL Server. Time will tell.
 
sac-release-timing
(source Microsoft)
 
What is really interesting is that, to me, it appears that Microsoft may have gone from a market leader to a follower, I could be wrong:

  • Cloud
  • Linux
  • Open Source
  • Docker
  • Git
  • Channels
  • Core licences
  • …

 
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.NET 4.7 WU, WSUS and MU

Here at AKAWN we’ve been busy working on our first application which we hope to release later this year.
 
Having purely been focused on SQL Server architecture, administration and consulting, it has been a real eye opener into the effort required to produce an application.
 
So to all those developers out there a big thanks for your efforts, you guys rock.
 
This post got a bit side tracked :) it was meant to advise that .NET Framework 4.7 is available on Windows Update, WSUS, and MU Catalog.

Plagiarism

Wow, you never really grasp the meaning of plagiarism until it happens to you.
 
Recently a couple of AKAWN blog articles have appeared on a popular SQL Server website. The person has tweaked the wording and images but it is clearly a copy.
 
Copying other people’s work and passing it off as your own is NOT cool.
 
If this person, who I assume follows this blog, does it again, I won’t hesitate to out them. You’d think a MVP would know better.
 
As an absolute minimum, a reference should be made to the source of your content when using another person’s work.

datediff and datepart abbreviations

When working with dates/times it can sometimes get a bit confusing when abbreviation options are introduced e.g. abbreviations may pad 0’s,use 24hr (HH) vs 12hr (hh) etc.
 
This post is simply a confirmation that abbreviations in datediff and datepart do return the same value.

DECLARE   @starts datetime = '2017-06-12 19:00:05'
		, @ends datetime = '2017-06-12 19:00:07';

SELECT    DATEDIFF(ss,@starts,@ends) AS diff_ss
		, DATEDIFF(s,@starts,@ends) AS diff_s
		, DATEPART(ss,@starts) AS part_ss	
		, DATEPART(s,@starts) AS part_s;

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SSMS AutoRecover Location

By default, SSMS saves your queries every 5 minutes and keeps the info for 7 days.
 
I suspect this has saved many a DBA when unforeseen outages occur.
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One quick way to get to this recovery location is shown below and is by right clicking on a Query tab:
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As you may have noticed, this provides a quick access method to your hidden AppData folder.

Starting the SQL Agent from the command line

If you’ve attempted to start the SQL Agent from the command prompt you likely would have received the following message:
 
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It is possible to run the Agent, you just require arguments i.e.

  • -c which allows you to use the command prompt, so always required
  • -v optional verbose mode which includes the standard SQL Server Agent error log entries
  • -iinstancename if you are using a named instance

Below shows with -c used for a default instance
 
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Yes there will probably be times when you’ll need to use the above to troubleshoot Agent issues.
 
CTRL + C will stop the Agent.

SQL Server system database templates

If for some reason you need to restore the system databases, you’ll typically find copies of the original system databases in the …\Binn\Templates folder.
 
Below shows the file on a SQL Server 2016 default instance installation:
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Details on how to make use of them is found here