Backup compression reduces the on-disk size of SQL Server backup files and can significantly shorten backup duration by reducing the amount of data written to disk. This post shows how to enable compression at the server level, verify the setting is active, and confirm compression ratios from backup history using the …

Query Backup Duration and File Size from SQL Server History This script queries SQL Server's msdb backup history to report the backup type, start and finish time, duration in minutes, and file size in both megabytes and gigabytes for every backup across all user databases on the server. Purpose and Overview Knowing …

Report SQL Server Agent Job Status and Failure History This script queries the SQL Server Agent job history stored in msdb to produce a detailed report of each job's most recent run status, failure and success counts over the last 60 days, total lifetime run counts, and job step information including subsystem type and …

Kill SQL Server Sessions with Targeted Filters Using KILL and dm_exec_sessions This article covers a practical T-SQL script that kills one or more SQL Server sessions (SPIDs) while giving you precise control over which sessions are targeted. The script uses sys.dm_exec_sessions to query active sessions and a cursor to …

Check SQL Server Backup Age Across All Databases This script queries the SQL Server backup history catalog to report the most recent full, differential, and transaction log backup for every database, including how many hours and minutes ago each backup completed. Purpose and Overview Database backups are your last line …

Search Stored Procedure and View Definitions in SQL Server This script searches the text of stored procedures, views, functions, and triggers in the current database using sys.sql_modules, returning any programmable object whose name or definition contains a given keyword. Purpose and Overview Finding which stored …

Search the SQL Server Error Log with xp_readerrorlog This script reads and filters the SQL Server error log using xp_readerrorlog and sys.sp_readerrorlog, supporting keyword search, date range filtering, and access to archived log files — all from T-SQL without touching the file system. Purpose and Overview The SQL …

Verify SQL Server Backup Files with RESTORE VERIFYONLY Backup files that cannot be restored are worthless, and many DBAs discover problems only when they attempt an actual restore under pressure. The scripts in this article use RESTORE VERIFYONLY to confirm that backup files are readable and internally consistent …

Report Index Fragmentation Across All Tables in SQL Server This script queries sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats to report external and internal fragmentation for every index in the current database, filtering to indexes with significant fragmentation and enough pages to make maintenance worthwhile. Purpose and Overview …

Report Database Size in MB and GB for All SQL Server Databases This script queries sys.master_files and sys.databases to report the total allocated size in megabytes and gigabytes for every user database on the SQL Server instance, sorted by largest database first. Purpose and Overview Knowing how large each database …