jinnantonnixx

That's what we can technically refer to as 'big'. Your log file is not being truncated by your backup system. So, the next question is how do you backup your database? Homebrew script or using a package such as Veritas? What sort of backup regime do you intend? Daily simple backups, weekly Fulls with daily or 6 hourly differential, etc?

What value do you have in the column "Space Used (MB)" for your log file (ldf) when you run the script in post #4?

*** Usual caveats apply here - if you're not confident with SQL queries or code, don't proceed. If you break it, you get to keep the pieces but that's all *** Next, we can move to your log file. This SQL script will display information about your log file. The key items here are the Currently Allocated Space (the space within the file on disk that the log file is actually using for its operation) and the Space Used (the size of the file allocated for the log file on disk). I'm going to make a guess and say that the log file size in use is nowhere near the log file size allocated on disk. If this is the case, and your backups are functioning correctly and proven to work, the log file can be re-sized to a more sensible value. use [type the name of your sims database here] go SELECT Name, Filename, CONVERT(Decimal(15,2),ROUND(a.Size/128.000,2)) [Currently Allocated Space (MB)], CONVERT(Decimal(15,2),ROUND(FILEPROPERTY(a.Name,'SpaceUsed')/128.000,2)) AS [space Used (MB)], CONVERT(Decimal(15,2),ROUND((a.Size-FILEPROPERTY(a.Name,'SpaceUsed'))/128.000,2)) AS [Available Space (MB)] FROM dbo.sysfiles a (NOLOCK)

*** Usual caveats apply here - if you're not confident with SQL queries or code, don't proceed. If you break it, you get to keep the pieces but that's all *** If your OK with SQL and scripts, this SQL code will display your backups. This will give you a very complete view on your backups. The results are ordered by database name and last backup date (descending) SELECT sysdb.name, bkup.description, bkup.backup_finish_date, case when type='D' then '** FULL **' when type='I' then 'DIFFERENTIAL' when type='L' then 'LOG' end as Backup_Type, (STR(ABS(DATEDIFF(day, GetDate(),(backup_finish_date))))) as 'Days_Ago', ceiling(bkup.backup_size /1048576) as 'Size Meg' , cast((bkup.backup_size /1073741824) as decimal (9,2)) as 'Gig', server_name, sysdb.crdate ,datediff(minute, bkup.backup_start_date, bkup.backup_finish_date) as 'Mins' ,cast(cast(datediff(minute, bkup.backup_start_date, bkup.backup_finish_date) as decimal (8,3))/60 as decimal (8,1)) as 'Hours', first_lsn, last_lsn, checkpoint_lsn FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases sysdb LEFT OUTER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupset bkup ON bkup.database_name = sysdb.name where backup_finish_date > DATEADD(DAY, -60, (getdate())) -- Last 60 days --- AND sysdb.name = 'SIMS%' ORDER BY sysdb.name, bkup.backup_finish_date desc

That is a fair sign that there's something wrong with your backups. Describe your backup routines before going any further.

It occurred to me that I hardly ever watch live TV any more. Even the news get sidelined as I'm so used to customised content. I've got a Humax Freesat recorder for programmes that I want to record. For streaming, I use Netflix. I also won a £200 credit for Blinkbox movies, which works OK on the Chromecast. Blinkbox has a good choice, and it's PAYG, but it's quite expensive compared with Netflix.

Watched Houdini (part 1) last night on Netflix. Excellent - thoroughly enjoyable.

Be cautious with newspaper reporting of science. The media often sees terms and phrases used in scientific literature and takes them out of the scientific context. This is the source IARC article. http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/MonographVolume112.pdf Glyphosate at very high doses is harmful to humans. The dose is the poison, as they say. Glyphosate, Malathion and Diazinon are designated IARC group '2A', which means "probably carcinogenic to humans". http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ That means that there is "limited evidence" of carcinogenicity in humans, but sufficient evidence in experimental animals. "Limited evidence" means a positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent and cancer has been noted, but other explanations (chance, bias, confounding) for the observations can't be ruled out. Glyphosate does not appear to be a human health risk even at levels of exposure that are higher than that recommended by the product’s labelling. http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10408444.2014.1003423 Review of genotoxicity biomonitoring studies of glyphosate-based fo... - PubMed - NCBI It's always wise to use chemicals cautiously and with respect, but I wouldn't be too concerned by this publication.

Some suggestions... http://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/23-incredible-hipster-beards

Scientists are warning that we may have already hit 'peak beard'. Personally, if I wanted everybody to look like Edwardians, I would have been born earlier. Negative frequency-dependent preferences and variation in male facial hair | Biology Letters

There's nothing in principal to prevent SIMS databases operating on an SQL cluster, but I think the supporting systems and applications might cause problems. I think (and I may be wrong or out of date here) but the Document Server organises its folder structure based on the Netbios name of the SQL server, not the (virtual) cluster name of the server cluster. My memory is vague, but I think it gets the servername by running an xp_cmdshell command shell script on the SQL server to get the computer name. This will return the live computer name, not the cluster virtual name. You can test this by using DNS aliases for your SQL server, and you'll probably find that the Docstorage folder structure takes the Netbios name of the SQL server no matter what the DNS alias is set to. This bit me a fair while ago, so it might have changed, but it's something to watch out for. If this still stands, this alone is enough to prevent SIMS working on a cluster. At least that was the case when I considered it years ago. Long story short, I think an SQL cluster for SIMS will be a grief-rich endeavour. Of course, somebody might be successfully operating SIMS on an SQL cluster - if so please post.

You must find a routine you like - and it must be a routine, something you accept as part of your life and want to do, rather than a chore. If you don't want to do it, you'll find every excuse under the sun not to get up and do the workout. Personally, I'm a big fan of kettlebells. I got a few routines from youtube, and mix and match and make my own to make things interesting. I cycle every day, so my cardio is covered. At the risk of repeating myself (from other threads), this Cracked blog post is well worth a read. If you want to get fit, concentrate on the 'why' (your goals) rather than the 'how'. The 'how' is a trivial first step - everybody know how to get fit. 5 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Own Life (Without Knowing It) | Cracked.com

That's why it's important to set the max memory value in SQL Server. If not, you could end up with a weirdly unresponsive machine, even though it has more than enough memory. SQL server might not be able to release memory back to the OS fast enough to prevent the OS from paging. As a ready reckoner, subtract (as an example) 4Gig from your virtual machine RAM and assign this value to the max memory for SQL Server. This ensures that the OS has enough memory to function happily without relying on SQL to release memory. https://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/jonathan/wow-an-online-calculator-to-misconfigure-your-sql-server-memory/

How are your disks configured? If you've got one disk, with the server OS, tempDBs, swap file, data files and log files all sharing the same LUN then you have an uphill battle. But the first thing I'd do is start SQL Activity Monitor. This is a nice tool that gives you a good overview of what's going on. http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1917/performance-analysis-using-sql-server-2008-activity-monitor-tool/ SQL Server Activity Monitor - SQL Shack - articles about database auditing, server performance, data recovery, and more Have a look at your 'waiting tasks' graph. What sort of numbers do you have?

I was fine at 700 wpm, but I wouldn't want to read a technical manual like that!

Well, that's easy for you to say.

Find the App Inventor's folder (something like 'commands for app inventor' and run this adb kill-server adb start-server That should reset the emulator. Next try and get the emulator to work. This command will show you if the emulator is connected properly. adb devices Unless your luck has changed, see if there's any nuggets of info in the logs adb logcat I've had some success with the logs, paste the last 50 lines or so and see if we can spot something wrong.

Here's a good summary about compatibility levels. Be sure to scroll down to the bit titled "Differences Between Lower Compatibility Levels and Level 120" for a run-down of the problem. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510680.aspx Now, if SIMS switched on Trace Flag 9481 (which they could do with a simple patch) this would force SQL 2014 to use the old version of the Cardinality Estimator, saving people the hassle of changing compatibility modes. Another good article on the new CE: http://michaeljswart.com/2014/05/enabling_the_new_ce/

Yes indeed, Vik. If you use a log backup system (diffs or incremental), an ad-hoc backup by a different system will truncate the logs, breaking this chain and rendering your backups useless. Not an ideal situation. You can get around this with the COPY_ONLY flag on the backup which leaves the log markers untouched. But the best advice is to study your existing backups and understand how they work before getting creative. If you know that you have any kind of backup system in place, and for some reason you are forced to make an ad-hoc backup using SQL Manager, the only safe advice is to always use COPY_ONLY. http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1075/copyonly-backups-with-sql-server/

You'll have to describe your system. What software do you use to backup? If this allows you do run an ad-hoc backup, this is the preferred way.

Do you already have a backup system? At the minimum, you should back up every day. If you don't have such a system, that should be your very first task.

Detachment (currently on Netflix) - "Detachment is a chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of a substitute teacher named Henry Barthes." I enjoyed this film. Detachment (2011) - IMDb Locke (currently on Netflix) - Tom Hardy is the only actor appearing on screen in this film, and the entire story takes place inside a car. Sounds pretty minimalist, but it stands up as it's a good story. Locke (2013) - IMDb

The millennium bug was a big deal, we were flapping over that. Things are hazy, but we must have been running a mix of Novel Netware and NT as we patched both systems for the Y2K bug. I must have been working in tech support at that point. NT was replacing Netware, which was a step backwards IMO. In fact we missed one Netware server, and found it in a school's storeroom sometime like 2003, still running perfectly. The uptime on those things was outrageous, in sharp contrast to the brittle fragility of NT. But there you go. ISDN was all the rage, and we still used the D channel for X.25 comms to the Unix servers for the financial systems. Things are really hazy now. One thing I've learned is that technology is fleeting. Things that were essential to know back then have simply vanished. Nowadays, I just pick enough from the IT smorgasbord to get the job done, happy/resigned in the knowledge that this technology is temporary, and will be replaced by the next new shiny thing.

Maybe. But I think it's safer to have a separate server waiting in the wings. It also gives you a chance to test your DR policy to make sure that your SQL backups are viable, without disturbing anybody. I know it's a cliché, but unless you prove your backups, you only have 'alleged backups'!

I'd be a bit more cautious about this. A rogered virtual server is still rogered, and moving the image to another host won't help - it's still rogered, albeit on a different host. I'd keep a separate image of another warm/cold standby server ready to take the database restore. I use log shipping to keep a standby server up-to-date.