SQL Server: Understanding and Using DBCC Commands

By Erin Stellato
This course will teach you which DBCC commands to use to enhance your production environment in SQL Server. You'll see demos of how to use DBCC commands, along with replacement Dynamic Management Objects, as well as scenarios for when to use them.
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Course info
Level
Intermediate
Updated
Mar 30, 2016
Duration
2h 18m
Table of contents
Course Overview
Course Overview 2m
Introduction
Introduction and Responsibilities of a DBA 2m What This Course Covers 3m Course Structure and Module Summary 1m
Basic Commands
Introduction and What Are DBCC Commands? 2m DBCC Resources 2m Testing DBCC Commands 2m Undocumented Commands 2m DBCC HELP 2m DBCC TRACEON, DBCC TRACEOFF, and DBCC TRACESTATUS 3m Demo: Using Basic DBCC Commands 7m Takeaways and Module Summary 2m
Informational Commands
Introduction 1m DBCC SQLPERF 3m Demo: Using DBCC SQLPERF 7m DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS 2m Demo: Using DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS 6m DBCC USEROPTIONS 2m Additional Commands and DBCC OPENTRAN 2m DBCC INPUTBUFFER and DBCC OUTPUTBUFFER 1m DBCC PROCCACHE and DBCC SHOWCONTIG 2m Demo: Using DMOs Instead of DBCC 9m Takeaways and Module Summary 2m
Maintenance Commands
Introduction and DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS 3m DBCC FREEPROCCACHE 2m DBCC FREESYSTEMCACHE and FREESESSIONCACHE 2m DBCC FLUSHPROCINDB 1m Demo: Commands to Clear Buffer Pool and Procedure Cache 10m DBCC SHRINKDATABASE and DBCC SHRINKFILE 3m Demo: Effects of SHRINK Commands 8m DBCC UPDATEUSAGE and DBCC CLEANTABLE 3m Deprecated Commands, Takeaways, and Module Summary 3m
Validation Commands
Introduction 1m DBCC CHECKCONSTRAINTS 2m Demo: Using DBCC CHECKCONSTRAINTS 4m DBCC CHECKIDENT 2m Demo: Using DBCC CHECKIDENT 3m Takeaways and Module Summary 1m
Undocumented Commands
Introduction and DBCC LOGINFO 2m Demo: Using DBCC LOGINFO 5m DBCC IND, DBCC PAGE, and DBCC DBINFO 3m Demo: Exploring Internals with DBCC Commands 10m Takeaways and Module Summary 1m Where to Go Next and Course Summary 2m
Description
Course info
Level
Intermediate
Updated
Mar 30, 2016
Duration
2h 18m
Description

There are many DBCC commands available to database administrators and developers. Some are for the greater good; others can wreak havoc in a production environment. In this course, SQL Server: Understanding and Using DBCC Commands, you'll explore DBCC commands that are useful and relevant, whether you're a DBA or a developer (this course is for SQL Server 2005 and up). First, you'll cover the most basic commands and the informational commands--when to use them and how, in order to minimize impact on the solution. Next, you'll learn about the maintenance commands and how to recognize when a DBCC command has been superceded by a Dynamic Management Object, along with examples of how to use them. Finally, you'll learn about undocumented DBCC commands and go through scenarios on when to use them. By the time you're done, you'll have a greater understanding of DBCC commands and you'll be able to use those commands to optimize your environment.

About the author
Erin Stellato
About the author

Erin Stellato is a Principal Consultant with SQLskills and a SQL Server MVP. She has worked as a SQL Server professional since 2003 and her interests include Internals, Performance Tuning, High Availability and Disaster Recovery. Erin is an active member of the SQL Server community as a presenter and blogger.

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Section Introduction Transcripts
Section Introduction Transcripts

Course Overview
Hello, my name is Erin Stellato and welcome to my course SQL Server: Understanding and Using DBCC Commands. I'm a SQL Server consultant with SQL Skills as well as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP. And this topic is one that I've been presenting on for several years because I find that many database administrators and database developers are familiar with three or four DBCC commands. But because of their environment or roll they don't always have the chance to work with some of the other commands until they're run into a production issue. At that moment, when your manager is upset because there's a problem and users are blaming the database for an issue with the application running a DBCC command for the first time can feel a little bit scary. You're pretty sure you know what's going to happen because you've read about the command. But until you actually run it you're holding your breathe because reading about something and thinking you know what will happen is very different than having the experience of doing it. In this course we'll review the most frequently executed DBCC commands to not just see exactly what they do, but also understand what impact if any they can have on performance, on your solution configuration, or on your data. If you work with SQL Server in any capacity, whatever your level, this course is relevant to you. Experience with TSQL commands is helpful, along with the basic understanding of how SQL Server works. I hope you'll join me as we explore the world of DBCC commands with this course SQL Server: Understanding and Using DBCC Commands here on Pluralsight.

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