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Chandler Gray

@chandlercgray

I work in data and actually like it. Minnesota sports fan for better or worse. chandlergray.com

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15.11.2024
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Latest posts by Chandler Gray @chandlercgray

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How to Timeout an External Process in PowerShell | Chandler Gray How to use WaitForExit(Int32) to give an external process a time limit in PowerShell, and what to do when it runs out.

I wrote about how to timeout an external process in #PowerShell.

chandlergray.com/blog/how-to-timeout-an-external-process-in-powershell

06.03.2026 16:01 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
a baseball player is sitting in the dugout with a scoreboard behind him that says 5th ALT: a baseball player is sitting in the dugout with a scoreboard behind him that says 5th
20.02.2026 20:05 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Setting Up an FTP Server on Ubuntu with vsftpd | Chandler Gray Step-by-step guide to setting up an FTP server on Ubuntu using vsftpd, from VM creation to testing connections on your local network.

Sometimes I write posts just so I remember the steps later. This one covers how I set up my local FTP servers.

Read here: chandlergray.com/blog/setting...

26.09.2025 19:54 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Monty Hall Problem That Made Me a Better DBA | Chandler Gray How Monty Hall helped me understand SQL Server’s bad plan choices.

SQL Server = Monty Hall. Pick the first plan, get a goat. Parameter sniffing locks you in. Learn how to switch doors here:

chandlergray.com/blog/the-mon...

22.07.2025 20:50 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I thought this was about SQL Agent Jobs until I watched the video 😆

03.07.2025 20:50 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Post image

Wolves in five.

15.05.2025 01:47 👍 157 🔁 9 💬 3 📌 2
Inside My Fantasy Baseball Analyzer | Chandler Gray A walkthrough of how I built a fantasy tool that merges ESPN and FanGraphs data to optimize decisions.

Here's my first attempt at building a real-world useful #Python application. This is for all of the #FantasyBaseball nerds out there. Any feedback is welcome!

chandlergray.com/projects/fan...

12.05.2025 20:40 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Set SQL Server Autogrowth for All Databases (and Why You Should) | Chandler Gray Standardize SQL Server autogrowth settings across all databases with a simple script. Learn why setting consistent filegrowth sizes helps control VLF fragmentation, improves performance, and avoids le...

Inherited a SQL Server environment with “creative” autogrowth settings? Here’s how I standardize filegrowth across all databases with a simple script.

New Blog Post: How to Set SQL Server Autogrowth for All Databases (and Why You Should)

#sql #sqlserver

chandlergray.com/blog/how-to-...

12.05.2025 20:39 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Safely Shrink a SQL Server Transaction Log File | Chandler Gray Learn how to shrink a SQL Server transaction log file with DBCC SHRINKFILE, understand the risks, and discover best practices for log file management to maintain database health.

New Blog Post: How to Safely Shrink a SQL Server Transaction Log File

chandlergray.com/blog/how-to-...

12.05.2025 02:00 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Migrating Your SSRS ReportServer Database | Chandler Gray Migrate your SSRS ReportServer database safely by backing up and restoring—covering encryption key export, login and service-account configuration, portal validation, and manual data-source reconfigur...

New Blog Post: Migrating Your SSRS ReportServer Database

chandlergray.com/blog/migrati...

07.05.2025 15:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

What are you trying to say, Aaron?!

01.05.2025 01:04 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Install SQL Server 2022 on MacOS | Chandler Gray A guide to running SQL Server 2022 on macOS using Docker.

How to Install SQL Server 2022 on MacOS

chandlergray.com/blog/how-to-...

30.04.2025 02:14 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Analyze Wait Stats in SQL Server 2022 | Chandler Gray Learn how to categorize SQL Server 2022 wait statistics into actionable groups using sys.dm_os_wait_stats and GROUPING SETS to uncover hidden performance bottlenecks in minutes.

How to Analyze Wait Stats in SQL Server 2022

chandlergray.com/blog/how-to-...

29.04.2025 01:56 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Configure and Tune MAXDOP | Chandler Gray A practical guide to selecting and configuring the Max Degree of Parallelism (MAXDOP) setting in SQL Server for optimal parallel query performance.

New Post: How to Configure and Tune MAXDOP

chandlergray.com/blog/how-to-...

27.04.2025 17:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Optimizing SQL Server Backup Transfers with Robocopy This morning I stared at a 30 GB SQL Server backup and a VPN that managed about 1 MB/s and dropped every 45 to 60 minutes. I thought, “If I split this into thirty 1 GB pieces and copy them in parallel, maybe I can outrun the disconnects.” Later that morning I ran a quick PowerShell script to slice the .bak into 30 parts, which took just a couple of minutes.

Optimizing SQL Server Backup Transfers with Robocopy

22.04.2025 02:46 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Using PowerShell to Automate Glenn Berry’s SQL DMV Queries What Is dbatools? The Script Accessing the Script Prerequisites How to Use the Script Pro Tip I find myself using Glenn Berry's SQL Server DMV queries more than any other performance tuning or diagnostic tool. Due to the frequency with which I execute these queries, I needed a way to quickly connect to a server, collect the necessary data, and move on until I have time to review the information thoroughly.

Using PowerShell to Automate Glenn Berry’s SQL DMV Queries

What Is dbatools? The Script Accessing the Script Prerequisites How to Use the Script Pro Tip I find myself using Glenn Berry's SQL Server DMV queries more than any other performance tuning or diagnostic tool. Due to the frequency with…

22.04.2025 02:45 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Identifying and Removing Duplicate Indexes in SQL Server Why Duplicate Indexes Are Problematic The Script How It Works Gathering Basic Index Information Retrieve Key Columns Retrieve Included Columns Drop Index Statement Find the Duplicates in my Results Limitations In an earlier post, I mentioned I was looking for ways to simplify my performance tuning efforts. One of the approaches I've taken is finding exact duplicate indexes. Duplicate indexes on a table are problematic because anytime you insert, update, or delete a record on that table, SQL Server needs to update that same index multiple times.

Identifying and Removing Duplicate Indexes in SQL Server

Why Duplicate Indexes Are Problematic The Script How It Works Gathering Basic Index Information Retrieve Key Columns Retrieve Included Columns Drop Index Statement Find the Duplicates in my Results Limitations In an earlier post, I mentioned…

22.04.2025 02:44 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Improve SQL Server Performance by Avoiding Key Lookups Investigating the I/O Performance Adding the Index Including Columns Recently I've been looking into simplifying my performance tuning efforts. One of the more straightforward methods for improving the performance of a query is to eliminate key lookups. A key lookup occurs when SQL Server retrieves additional columns not included in a non-clustered index, requiring it to access the clustered index or the table itself for the missing data.

How to Improve SQL Server Performance by Avoiding Key Lookups

Investigating the I/O Performance Adding the Index Including Columns Recently I've been looking into simplifying my performance tuning efforts. One of the more straightforward methods for improving the performance of a query is to…

22.04.2025 02:43 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Download and Install the Latest Cumulative Update for SQL Server Download the Latest CU Installing the CU Post Installation Tasks Microsoft isn't perfect. Because of this, they need to push out regular updates to SQL Server. These come out in several formats but most often we see this in the form of a Cumulative Update (CU). Cumulative Updates release roughly once every 30 days, but there is no exact pattern. Below you will find the steps to download and install the latest CU to your SQL Server.

How to Download and Install the Latest Cumulative Update for SQL Server

Download the Latest CU Installing the CU Post Installation Tasks Microsoft isn't perfect. Because of this, they need to push out regular updates to SQL Server. These come out in several formats but most often we see this in…

22.04.2025 02:43 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Download and Install SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) Downloading SSMS Installing SSMS Post-Installation Next Steps SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is Microsoft's official tool for interacting with Microsoft SQL Server. SSMS is an essential for Database Administrators that need to both read/write T-SQL and review execution plans. Developers often utilize SSMS, but there are some plugins for Visual Studio Code, such as this one, but it doesn't offer the same experience that SSMS does.

How to Download and Install SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

Downloading SSMS Installing SSMS Post-Installation Next Steps SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is Microsoft's official tool for interacting with Microsoft SQL Server. SSMS is an essential for Database Administrators that need to…

22.04.2025 02:42 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How to Download and Install Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Downloading SQL Server 2022 Installing SQL Server 2022 Post-Installation Installing SQL Server 2022 is a straightforward process if you follow the right steps. Below, I’ll walk you through how to download the installation media and successfully install SQL Server 2022 Downloading SQL Server 2022 To guarantee you’re downloading the latest and official version of SQL Server, visit Microsoft's SQL Server Downloads page…

How to Download and Install Microsoft SQL Server 2022

Downloading SQL Server 2022 Installing SQL Server 2022 Post-Installation Installing SQL Server 2022 is a straightforward process if you follow the right steps. Below, I’ll walk you through how to download the installation media and successfully…

22.04.2025 02:42 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Resolving SQL Server Instance and Database Collation Discrepancies: Step-by-Step Guide Recently I experienced a situation while migrating a database to a new SQL Server instance where the instance collation was different than the database collation, causing tempdb to become unusable. This discrepancy rendered tempdb unusable and caused JOIN, ORDER BY, GROUP BY, and other operations to fail. Facing a strict deadline to get these applications migrated, I decided to rebuild the instance collation to match the new application databases.

Resolving SQL Server Instance and Database Collation Discrepancies: Step-by-Step Guide

Recently I experienced a situation while migrating a database to a new SQL Server instance where the instance collation was different than the database collation, causing tempdb to become unusable. This…

22.04.2025 02:41 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0