Presenting in Baltimore on 30 April

So this weekend, I'm presenting in Baltiimore at SQL Saturday 506. If you're in town, swing over and join us!

SSMS 2016

In SQL Server 2016, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has been de-coupled from the installer media. You can now find it here:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt238290.aspx

It'd stink to have an install with no SSMS, so there you go.

HammerDB under Windows 10 returns odd transaction count error

I'm running Windows 10, and am trying to run HammerDB using a 4K display as my primary monitor against SQL Developer 2014.

First thing I noticed is that the tree of choices is missing. A quick drag from the LEFT (!) made the tree of choices appear.

So I set up a quick test using Autopilot, 2 users, and logged the results. To which, HammerDB said it couldn't get the transaction counts, because SQL Server returned a non-numeric transaction count data.

Eh?

Disconnected monitors under Windows 10

I'm running Windows 10, and recently got a new docking station, and needed to disconnect a display port shown by the dock as "active".

Display settings >> Multiple Displays >> Disconnect This Display >> Apply

In Windows 7, the monitor disconnected and the icon in "Display Settings" for the specific monitor would go gray, and still be there.

To reconnect the now-disconnected monitor in Windows 7 was easy:
Clicking on the gray icon >> "Extend desktop to this display" >> Apply.

In Window 10, the display disappeared when I disconnected it in "Display Settings". Hitting "Detect" revealed absolutely nothing!

What I've found is that there's more than one way to manage your displays. (!)

For example:

1. Open the control panel
2. Click "Adjust screen resolution" under the "Appearance and Personalization" section. 
3. Click the missing display, which should be black now
4. Click Multiple Displays >> Extend desktop to this display
5. Click Apply

Et Voila! There's your missing monitor!

Is database backup compression enabled?

How do I check if database compression is already enabled?


select case when value = 1 then 'Yes' else 'No' end as [Backup Compression Enabled] from sys.configurations where name = 'backup compression default' ;

Are remote admin connections enabled?

How do I check if remote admin connections are enabled?

select case when value = 1 then 'Yes' else 'No' end as [Remote Admin Connections Enabled] from sys.configurations where name = 'remote admin connections' ;

Check if database mail is enabled

How do I check if database mail is enabled?

select case when value = 1 then 'Yes' else 'No' end as [Database Mail Enabled] from sys.configurations where name = 'Database Mail XPs' ;