Welcome to Stedman’s SQL Server Podcast, your go-to source for all things SQL Server! Whether you’re a seasoned DBA, a developer, or an IT professional looking to expand your SQL Server knowledge, this podcast offers insightful discussions, expert interviews, and practical tips to help you optimize your database performance. Each episode dives deep into topics like performance tuning, database corruption repair, monitoring best practices, and much more. Tune in regularly for a wealth of SQL Server expertise, brought to you by Stedman Solutions, your trusted partner for SQL Server management and DBA services.
Your Host: Steve Stedman
With over 30 years of hands-on experience, Steve Stedman is more than just a host—he’s a trusted guide in the world of SQL Server. From his early days as a developer to his role as founder of Stedman Solutions, LLC, Steve has built a reputation as a go-to expert in SQL Server performance tuning, database corruption repair, and proactive management.
Steve’s extensive knowledge is matched by his passion for teaching. Whether it’s through the podcast, his blog, or speaking engagements, he brings complex SQL Server topics to life with clear explanations, practical examples, and a touch of humor.
What the Podcast Covers
The Stedman SQL Server Podcast is designed to deliver valuable insights in every episode. Here’s what you can expect:
Real-World Problem Solving: From handling ransomware attacks to dealing with untested backups, each episode dives into practical challenges faced by SQL Server users.
Performance Tuning Deep Dives: Learn how to optimize slow queries, improve indexing strategies, and make your SQL Server run like a well-oiled machine.
Database Corruption Stories: Real-life examples of corruption repair, along with strategies to prevent it in your environment.
Interviews with Experts: Conversations with top SQL Server professionals about trends, tools, and techniques that are shaping the industry.
Tips for DBAs and Developers: Actionable advice for both seasoned DBAs and developers working to improve their database skills.
Proactive Monitoring: Explore how tools like Database Health Monitor can help prevent issues before they occur.
Why Listen to Stedman’s SQL Server Podcast?
- Stay Current: Keep up with the latest SQL Server updates, trends, and technologies.
- Learn from the Best: Steve’s engaging teaching style makes learning SQL Server both enjoyable and accessible.
- Connect with the Community: Through listener Q&A sessions and interviews, the podcast fosters a sense of community among SQL Server professionals.
- Practical Takeaways: Each episode is packed with actionable insights you can apply to your own SQL Server environment.
Here is a list of some of our recent episodes:
Stedman SQL Podcast Season 2 – Episode 1 New Year’s Resolutions
Steve Stedman and Shannon Lindsay discuss SQL Server New Year’s resolutions, emphasizing the importance of backup strategies, proactive monitoring, and staying updated with SQL Server versions. They highlight a January promotion offering 12 months of managed services for the price of 10, providing a 16% discount. Key resolutions include reviewing and testing backups, implementing proactive monitoring, ensuring systems are up-to-date, optimizing query performance, protecting against data corruption and ransomware, and planning for disaster recovery. They also stress the value of training and mentoring to improve SQL Server management. Resources like free white papers and a business continuity survey are available at Stedman Solutions.
Episode 1 details page- Watch ep. 1 now
Stedman SQL Podcast Ep. 12 JOINs
Steve Stedman discusses SQL Server JOINs in the final episode of Season One of his podcast. He explains the importance of understanding table relationships, particularly foreign keys, and covers various join types, including inner, outer, left, right, full, cross, and non-EQUI JOINs. Stedman demonstrates these joins using a sample database with tables for people, favorite colors, and favorite foods, highlighting data inconsistencies and the results of different join types. He also introduces the concept of the grandfather, father, son (GFS) backup schedule for efficient storage of backups. The episode concludes with a mention of a free joins poster and an invitation to Season Two.
Episode 12 details page – Watch ep. 12 now
Stedman SQL Server Podcast Episode 11- New Features for Database Health Monitor
Host: Steve Stedman
Steve Stedman hosts the Stedman SQL podcast, featuring George and Mitchell, developers of the Database Health Monitor. They discuss new features in DHM, including the VLF visualization report, schema search, SQL CPU schedulers, deprecated features, historic file size over time, and average page life expectancy charts. Mitchell highlights the flexibility of the new instance page layout and the upcoming disk latency report. George mentions the rewritten schema drift tool for comparing database schemas. Steve encourages feedback for new features and previews the next episode on SQL join types. The podcast is available on Spotify and YouTube.
Episode 11 details page – Watch ep. 11 now
Stedman SQL Server Podcast Episode 10 – RPO and RTO
Host: Steve Stedman/ Shannon Lindsay
This episode focuses on RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) for SQL Server backups, emphasizing the importance of aligning these metrics with business needs. They highlight the role of transaction log backups, log shipping, and immutable backups in improving recovery times and points. The conversation also touches on the necessity of testing backups and maintaining open communication with management.
Episode 10 details page – Watch ep. 10 now
Stedman SQL Server Podcast Episode 9 – Corruption
Host: Steve Stedman
Guest: Derrick Bovenkamp
Steve Stedman and Derek Bovenkamp discuss SQL Server database corruption, its causes, symptoms, and prevention strategies. Corruption often results from IO issues, such as firmware problems with iSCSI or antivirus software misconfigurations. Symptoms include failed queries and check DB errors. They emphasize the importance of regular check DBs, ideally daily, and testing backups. Effective solutions include restoring from backups or engaging experts like Stedman Solutions. They highlight the risks of ignoring corruption, including potential data loss and compliance issues. Best practices include using OLA Halogen scripts, maintaining up-to-date hardware, and staying current with SQL Server updates.
Episode 9 details page- Watch ep. 9 now
Stedman SQL Server Podcast Episode 8 – Business Continuity
Host: Steve Stedman
Steve Stedman discusses the availability of the Stedman Solutions SQL podcast on YouTube and Spotify, and announces November class promotions with discounts up to 60% off. He emphasizes the importance of business continuity planning, especially in light of recent storms in the Pacific Northwest. Stedman outlines potential threats, such as hardware failures, natural disasters, cybersecurity threats, and human error, and stresses the need for risk assessments, backup strategies, and regular testing. He also highlights the role of managed services in ensuring business continuity and shares real-world examples of disaster recovery. The episode concludes with a discussion on best practices for shrinking SQL Server files.
Episode 8 details page – Watch ep. 8 now
Stedman SQL Server Podcast Episode 7 – Brandie Kayser from ROC-IT joins us!
Host: Steve Stedman / Shannon Lindsay
Guest: Brandie Kayser – www.roc-it.net
Steve Stedman hosts the seventh episode of his podcast, discussing the importance of IT budgeting with Brandy Kaiser from ROC-IT. Brandie emphasizes the need for regular IT assessments and budgeting to avoid unexpected expenses. She highlights the significance of aligning IT goals with business objectives and the importance of cybersecurity. Brandie shares a case study of a medical practice with IT issues due to poor initial setup, stressing the value of proactive planning. The conversation also covers the challenges of upgrading systems and the benefits of partnering with experts like Stedman Solutions. An eBook on tech budgeting strategies is available for download.
Episode 7 details page – Watch ep. 7 now.
Stedman SQL Server Podcast Episode 6- New features for Database Health Monitor – October
Host- Shannon Lindsay
Guests- George Stedman/ Mitchell Glasscock
In episode six of the Stedman SQL podcast, Shannon Lindsay hosts George and Mitch to discuss new features in the database health monitor. They introduce a Quick Scan check for unscheduled SQL Server Agent jobs, which is particularly useful in cloud environments like RDS and Azure. Two major additions in release 1074 include a performance history instance report and a database-level file size over time report. The performance history report offers detailed charts for monitoring SQL Server performance metrics, while the file size report helps predict storage demands by tracking database growth. Additionally, color blind mode has been implemented, and real-time blocking and active queries charts are now available for each database. Future plans include line charts and a VLS page.
Episode 6 details page- Watch episode 6 now.
Season 1
The are a total of 12 season 1 episodes available.