How to Plan SQL Server Database Files

• Log files:
  • Place log files on a different physical partition than data files.
  • It’s not true – using several log files will get a performance gain – log files are written sequentially which means that each log file is filled up before the next one is written to.
• Data files:
  • Place data files on a different physical partition from log files.
  • It’s true – using several data files can get a performance gain – data files use an equal fill algorithm (all of the files are filled equally as much as possible).
• File growth:
  • Do not accept the defaults for file growth.
  • The best is to set both data and log files as large as possible – it can be very expensive (performance wise) to grow files
  • The next best is to set files to autogrow by fairly large predicable increments (grow data file by at least 1 GB).  It’s best to grow files by a specific value than by a percentage.
  • Set all data files to grow at the same rate, and all log files to grow at the same rate.  Data files don’t have to grow at the same rate as log files.

More details see http://www.petri.co.il/sql-server-database-files.htm

Picture Resizer–TinyPic

http://www.efpage.de/eTinypic.html

Free Disk Defragmentation Tool

• UltraDefrag: can defragment any system files including registry hives and paging file.
• Smart Defrag: has Auto Defrag feature – works automatically and quietly in the background.
• MyDefrag: see differences between Ultra Defrag and MyDefrag
• Defraggler: can specify to defrag one or more files.

Free All-in-One Music Converter - Easy CD-DA Extractor

www.poikosoft.com

• Rips Audio CDs
• Converts audio files format
• Edits metadata
• Burns Audio CDs, MP3 CD/DVDs, and Data CD/DVDs

Upgrade VMware ESXi 3.5 to vSphere 4.1 Using Host Update Utility

Upgrade ESXi 3.5 to 4.1 summary:

• upgrade ESXi 3.5 to 4.0 Update 1
• upgrade ESXi 4.0 Update 1 to 4.1
• I cannot upgrade EXSi 3.5 to 4.1 directly using Host Update Utility

Upgrade procedure:

1. Download “VMware vSphere Client and Host Update Utility 4.0 Update 1”.  (VMware vSphere Client 4.1 download package does not include Host Update Utility)
2. Install VMware vSphere Client and Host Update Utility 4.0 Update 1.
3. Download “Upgrade package from ESXi Server 3.5 to ESXi Server 4.0 Update 1” ZIP package.
4. Launch Host Update Utility 4.0 to upgrade ESXi Server 3.5 to 4.0 Update 1 with the ZIP package.  This will upgrade ESXi to 4.0.0 build-208167.
5. Then follow the instruction on “Upgrade vSphere ESXi from 4.0 to 4.1 Using vihostupdate”

Launch VBScript in a Logon Batch Script

An example of a batch file Logon script that launches a VBScript program is as follows:

@echo off
wscript %0\..\NetLogon.vbs

The "%0" in the batch file is interpreted by the command processor to be the name and path of the current file, which is the batch file itself. The string "%0\..\" then becomes the folder where the batch file is stored. The batch file above will launch the VBScript program NetLogon.vbs as long as it is saved in the NetLogon share with the batch file. This syntax is preferable to a UNC path, because it does not hard code the name of a Domain Controller. The syntax will work no matter which Domain Controller authenticates the user. The logon script will work no matter which Domain Controllers are available or where in the network the user logs on.

Reference: http://www.rlmueller.net/index.html

Windows Server Enable or Disable Logging of Printing Events

Windows Server 2008 R2

• Go to: Server Manager -> Diagnostics -> Event Views -> Applications and Service Logs -> Microsoft -> Windows -> PrintService -> Operational -> right click on the right side under Actions "Enable Log".

Windows Server 2003

To enable or disable logging of printing events

1. Open Printers and Faxes.
2. On the File menu, click Server Properties, and then click the Advanced tab.
3. To enable or disable writing spooler error events to the system log file, select or clear the Log spooler error events check box.
4. To enable or disable writing spooler warning events to the system log file, select or clear the Log spooler warning events check box.
5. To enable or disable writing spooler information events to the system log file, select or clear the Log spooler information events check box.
6. Stop and restart the spooler service, or reboot the server.

Notes

• To open Printers and Faxes, click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
• By default, all printing events are written to the system log file. If you want to reduce the amount of data that is logged, disable the logging of information events. If you want to further reduce the amount, disable the warning events. Disabling the logging of spooler error events is not recommended.