Allay Data SolutionsSQL Server maintenance, performance tuning, and free health checks — database consulting based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.https://allayds.co.za/Auto-shrink is still enabled — and still a bad ideahttps://allayds.co.za/blog/auto-shrink-still-enabled/https://allayds.co.za/blog/auto-shrink-still-enabled/Why AUTO_SHRINK creates fragmentation and I/O thrash, and what to do when you find it on a production database.Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTAutogrowth events and instant file initializationhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/autogrowth-and-instant-file-initialization/https://allayds.co.za/blog/autogrowth-and-instant-file-initialization/Tiny growth settings and missing instant file initialization turn routine file growth into multi-second stalls users feel as freezes.Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTBlocking chains and long-running transactionshttps://allayds.co.za/blog/blocking-and-long-transactions/https://allayds.co.za/blog/blocking-and-long-transactions/How open transactions, chatty apps, and missing indexes combine into blocking storms — and what a health review prioritises first.Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTCHECKDB skipped until corruption shows uphttps://allayds.co.za/blog/checkdb-skipped-until-corruption/https://allayds.co.za/blog/checkdb-skipped-until-corruption/Why integrity checks get postponed, what that costs, and how production teams make CHECKDB practical again.Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTParallelism defaults that surprise productionhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/cost-threshold-and-maxdop-defaults/https://allayds.co.za/blog/cost-threshold-and-maxdop-defaults/Cost threshold for parallelism and MAXDOP left at defaults can cause CX waits, worker starvation, or underused CPUs.Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTDangerous permissions and shared logins on SQL Serverhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/dangerous-permissions-and-shared-logins/https://allayds.co.za/blog/dangerous-permissions-and-shared-logins/sysadmin sprawl, shared application logins, and guest access still appear in security hygiene reviews of production estates.Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTCompatibility level lag after SQL Server upgradeshttps://allayds.co.za/blog/database-compatibility-level-lag/https://allayds.co.za/blog/database-compatibility-level-lag/Upgrading the engine without raising compatibility level leaves performance features and cardinality estimator behaviour on the table.Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTDatabase owners, orphaned users, and the TRUSTWORTHY bithttps://allayds.co.za/blog/database-owners-and-trustworthy-bit/https://allayds.co.za/blog/database-owners-and-trustworthy-bit/Ownership chains, orphaned users after restore, and TRUSTWORTHY settings create security and operational surprises after migrations.Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTDuplicate and unused indexes tax every writehttps://allayds.co.za/blog/duplicate-and-unused-indexes/https://allayds.co.za/blog/duplicate-and-unused-indexes/Indexes that never seek still slow inserts and updates. How reviews identify write tax without recklessly dropping production indexes.Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTFailed SQL Agent jobs nobody noticeshttps://allayds.co.za/blog/failed-sql-agent-jobs-nobody-notices/https://allayds.co.za/blog/failed-sql-agent-jobs-nobody-notices/Silent job failure is operational debt. How to turn Agent history into an alerting practice that actually protects production.Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTHeaps, forwarded records, and hidden I/Ohttps://allayds.co.za/blog/heaps-forwarded-records-and-hidden-io/https://allayds.co.za/blog/heaps-forwarded-records-and-hidden-io/Update-heavy heaps create forwarded record chains that quietly multiply reads. What reviewers look for and when a clustered index is the real fix.Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTImplicit conversions that blind your indexeshttps://allayds.co.za/blog/implicit-conversions-and-index-blindness/https://allayds.co.za/blog/implicit-conversions-and-index-blindness/Datatype mismatches force scans and CPU waste. How health and performance reviews spot conversion anti-patterns in real workloads.Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTIndex maintenance without the nightly rebuild ritualhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/index-maintenance-without-the-nightly-rebuild/https://allayds.co.za/blog/index-maintenance-without-the-nightly-rebuild/Why rebuilding every index every night is expensive — and a safer, smarter approach to fragmentation, statistics, and write-heavy workloads.Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTMax server memory left at the defaulthttps://allayds.co.za/blog/max-server-memory-left-at-default/https://allayds.co.za/blog/max-server-memory-left-at-default/Why unlimited SQL Server memory settings fight the OS, cause paging pressure, and show up constantly in configuration reviews.Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhen msdb history bloat slows the platformhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/msdb-history-bloat/https://allayds.co.za/blog/msdb-history-bloat/Backup and job history tables grow without cleanup and eventually tax disk, maintenance, and even SSMS responsiveness.Wed, 10 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTPlan cache bloat from one-off querieshttps://allayds.co.za/blog/optimize-for-ad-hoc-workloads/https://allayds.co.za/blog/optimize-for-ad-hoc-workloads/Ad-hoc SQL can flood the plan cache with single-use plans. When optimize for ad hoc workloads helps — and when the real issue is the app.Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPAGE_VERIFY and corruption risk you can reduce todayhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/page-verify-checksum-and-corruption-risk/https://allayds.co.za/blog/page-verify-checksum-and-corruption-risk/CHECKSUM page verification is a basic defence. Why older NONE/TORN_PAGE settings still show up and what to change carefully.Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTParameter sniffing explained with a real-world patternhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/parameter-sniffing-explained/https://allayds.co.za/blog/parameter-sniffing-explained/How a stored procedure can be fast for one parameter and terrible for another — and practical ways to fix it without cargo-cult OPTION RECOMPILE everywhere.Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTPerformance tuning: start with wait statshttps://allayds.co.za/blog/performance-tuning-wait-stats-first/https://allayds.co.za/blog/performance-tuning-wait-stats-first/Why wait statistics are the fastest way to stop guessing about SQL Server slowness — with a practical workflow you can use in production.Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTWindows power plans and SQL Server CPU behaviourhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/power-plan-and-cpu-scheduling/https://allayds.co.za/blog/power-plan-and-cpu-scheduling/Balanced power plans can park cores and surprise latency SLAs. Why host configuration still belongs in a database health review.Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTQuery Store is off when you need it mosthttps://allayds.co.za/blog/query-store-off-when-you-need-it-most/https://allayds.co.za/blog/query-store-off-when-you-need-it-most/Without a flight recorder for plans, every regression becomes folklore. Why enabling Query Store is a standard health-check recommendation.Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTRecovery model mismatched to the real RPOhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/recovery-model-mismatched-to-rpo/https://allayds.co.za/blog/recovery-model-mismatched-to-rpo/Simple recovery on critical databases, or Full recovery without log backups — both break the recovery story the business thinks it bought.Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTA practical SQL Server maintenance checklisthttps://allayds.co.za/blog/sql-server-maintenance-checklist/https://allayds.co.za/blog/sql-server-maintenance-checklist/The core jobs every production SQL Server should run — backups, integrity, indexes, stats — and how to prioritise them without over-maintaining.Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTStale statistics and plans that used to be finehttps://allayds.co.za/blog/statistics-staleness-and-bad-plans/https://allayds.co.za/blog/statistics-staleness-and-bad-plans/How out-of-date statistics create sudden regressions after data growth, ETL loads, and “nothing changed” releases.Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTSuspect pages and I/O errors are not background noisehttps://allayds.co.za/blog/suspect-pages-and-io-errors/https://allayds.co.za/blog/suspect-pages-and-io-errors/Entries in suspect pages and recurring I/O errors deserve incident treatment. How reviews escalate storage risk before CHECKDB becomes a crisis.Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTTempDB configuration red flags we see every monthhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/tempdb-configuration-red-flags/https://allayds.co.za/blog/tempdb-configuration-red-flags/Uneven files, tiny autogrowth, and contention patterns that make TempDB the hidden bottleneck on busy systems.Wed, 07 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTToo many VLFs: when the transaction log fights youhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/vlfs-and-transaction-log-pain/https://allayds.co.za/blog/vlfs-and-transaction-log-pain/Virtual log file fragmentation slows recovery and log operations. How growth habits create VLF mess and how reviews catch it.Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhat a SQL Server health check prioritises (and why)https://allayds.co.za/blog/what-a-sql-health-check-prioritises/https://allayds.co.za/blog/what-a-sql-health-check-prioritises/A practical look at how Allay Data Solutions ranks findings: integrity and recovery first, then stability, then performance polish.Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhen backups exist but restores would failhttps://allayds.co.za/blog/when-backups-exist-but-restores-fail/https://allayds.co.za/blog/when-backups-exist-but-restores-fail/A green backup job is not a recovery plan. How health checks separate “we take backups” from “we can restore on time”.Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT