T-SQL Tuesday #154 Recap

Introduction

Back on September 5, 2022, I posted the invitation for T-SQL Tuesday #154 Invitation – SQL Server 2022, which was due on Tuesday, September 12, 2022. I ended up getting eleven blog post responses that I am aware of (including mine). Thank you to everyone who participated! This post will be my T-SQL Tuesday #154 Recap.

Here are the blog posts for #T-SQL Tuesday #154, in alphabetical order by author.

Garry Bargsley

Garry (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday #154 – SQL Server 2022 “, where he described a demo of taking a database backup from an Azure SQL Managed Instance and restoring that backup to SQL Server 2022 RC0.

After that, he was able to run RESTORE FILELIST ONLY and RESTORE HEADER ONLY to get the detailed file and backup information to restore that backup to SQL Server 2022 RC0. This is a handy capability that is in SQL Server 2022.

Glenn Berry

Since I was the host (Blog/Twitter), I figured that I also needed to join in the fun by writing a post. My post was “Upgrading to SQL Server 2022“. I wrote a fairly long post about number of ongoing and upcoming developments in software and hardware, are shaping up to make the next twelve to eighteen months an ideal time to migrate from a legacy version of SQL Server to a modern version of SQL Server. 

Right now, your best choice is SQL Server 2019, but pretty soon we will have a much better option with SQL Server 2022. I think I am more interested and excited about SQL Server 2022 than many other people I have talked to.

Aaron Bertrand

Aaron (Blog/Twitter), wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday #154 : SQL Server 2022“. In his post, Aaron briefly covers a number of improvements in SQL Server 2022 but dives deeper into a new Extended Event called query_antipattern.

Unfortunately, this EE is not documented yet, but that doesn’t stop Aaron from trying to figure it out, with multiple examples. Finding undocumented features and improvements is one thing Aaron is quite good at. I share his frustration about trying to figure them out without any background or documentation.

In Microsoft’s defense, new features are often not 100% done and in a state of flux when they first appear, making it harder to document them. There is also a fear that if the documentation changes, customers will get confused.

Kevin Chant

Kevin (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday 154 – Azure Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022 testing“. In his post, Kevin wrote about Azure Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022, which allows you to replicate changes to your data stored in a SQL Server 2022 database to an Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL Pool.

Kevin noticed that when you first setup Azure Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022 the initial files created are parquet files, while additional files created afterwards are csv files.

Rob Douglas

Rob (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “TSQL Tuesday – SQL 2022 Planning for the Plan to Fail | It Depends“. In his post, Rob discussed improvements in Intelligent Query Processing that will show up in SQL Server 2022.

Rob gets extra credit for using the term “Little-Shite-On-The-Mire” in his post!

Rob Farley

Rob (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “SQL Windows“. Rob Farley is a frequent contributor to T-SQL Tuesday. In his post, Rob discussed some of the new windowing function enhancements (such as the WINDOW clause) in SQL Server 2022.

Rob demonstrates how these types of T-SQL enhancements will make writing cleaner, more efficient queries an easier task.

Deepthi Goguri

Deepthi (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday 154 – New Performance Features in SQL Server 2022“. In her post, Deepthi discussed the value of Query Store and how it will be enabled by default for new databases in SQL Server 2022.

Deepthi also talked about the new parameter sensitive plan optimization feature on SQL Server 2022. I share her excitement and optimism about new features and improvements that help you make SQL Server run faster, often with little engineering effort.

Allan Hirt

Allan (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “Contained SQL Server Agent Jobs in SQL Server 2022“. Alan’s post is the second in a series of posts about the new Contained Availability Groups feature in SQL Server 2022.

One administrative issue with SQL Server Agent jobs for Contained AGs in SQL Server 2022 RC0 is that you must use T-SQL to create them and to view their properties.

I can definitely see where this limitation can cause confusion and problems, and I hope we see SSMS support before SQL Server 2022 goes RTM. BTW, don’t call a Contained AG a CAG, or you will incur Allan’s disdain.

Gerald Jaryczewski

Gerald (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “Less T, more SQL“. In the post, Gerald writes about how he is happy to see the IS [NOT] DISTINCT FROM predicate added to T-SQL language.

Gerald gets intellectual pleasure from the declarative side of T-SQL that lets him use more pure set-based logic for queries. I can understand that!

Steve Jones

Steve (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday #154–Thinking about SQL Server 2022“. In his post, Steve talks about his experiences so far with SQL Server 2022, using both private and public builds. I think it would be fair to say that Steve is not particularly excited about SQL Server 2022, viewing it as just an evolutionary release.

A lot of people in the SQL Server community that I have talked to seem to agree with Steve. The common attitude is that if there are not lots of big changes and major improvements in the specific area where you spend most of your time, then it is just a “minor” release.

It is only natural to prioritize what you are interested in (and what your pain points are), but I think that misses the larger picture. A rising tide lifts all boats. When Microsoft makes fundamental, low-level performance improvements to the core database engine that helps everyone who decides to upgrade to SQL Server 2022.

Getting better performance and scalability with little to no engineering effort on your part helps improve performance for your applications and users, and it might even let you run your workload with fewer resources. This is beneficial no matter what part of SQL Server you specialize in.

I want to thank Steve for running the overall T-SQL Tuesday event on an ongoing basis. Steve has been a great mentor and friend over the years!

Oliver Van Steenlandt

Oliver (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday #154: SQL Server 2022“. In his post, Oliver writes about how he downloaded and installed a local copy of SQL Server 2022 CTP 2.0 as soon as it was available in May. He also read some blog posts and did some research to learn more about SQL Server 2022.

Oliver was planning to do more with SQL Server 2022, but other priorities got in the way. As far as I am concerned, that is perfectly understandable and absolutely fine. Not everyone has the free time to experiment with an unreleased version of SQL Server. There will be plenty of time to learn about it later!

David Wiseman

David (Blog/Twitter) wrote a post called “T-SQL Tuesday #154 Invitation – SQL Server“. In his post, David writes about adding SQL Server 2022 support to his free DBA Dash tool. David has also done quite a bit of testing with the Intel QAT backup compression feature in SQL Server 2022. He has seen similar results to mine (using software mode), with faster backups, lower CPU utilization and smaller database backup files compared to native backup compression.

I think Intel QAT backup compression is going to be a big win for many SQL Server 2022 customers.

This was David’s first T-SQL Tuesday contribution, so welcome on board!

Do You Want to Host a Future T-SQL Tuesday?

If you would like to host a T-SQL Tuesday, you can read the rules on the T-SQL Tuesday site and ask Steve Jones if you can host. If you have an idea for a future T-SQL Tuesday topic, you can contact Steve Jones.

Final Words

Once again, I want to thank everyone who took the time to write a post for T-SQL Tuesday #154. Believe me, I know how much time and effort it takes to write a good quality blog post. Please take a few minutes to read everyone’s posts!

Remember, one of the main points of any T-SQL Tuesday is to encourage more people in the SQL Server community to write more blog posts, more frequently. Bloggers often complain that they have “writer’s block” where they can’t think of anything to write about. Many bloggers also worry that what they do blog about is not a new or interesting enough topic to warrant a blog post.

You have to try to move beyond those concerns. Blogging is a good way to organize and record your thoughts and knowledge for posterity. I often refer to my old blog posts to help remember the details of previous technical issues that I have encountered.

Writing about something usually forces you to learn more about it, and to do some fresh research to validate your knowledge. If you just solved some sort of technical problem or learned something that was new to you, write a blog post about it!

Finally, T-SQL Tuesday is a good way to get back links to your blog. The number and quality of the back links that your blog has is important for SEO purposes. If you participate in T-SQL Tuesday as a writer or as a host (and follow the rules) you will get more good quality back links. You will also get some additional blog traffic.