WAL: The concept that makes recovery models & backups make sense (Dear SQL DBA Episode 32)

on March 2, 2017

When you’re a Junior DBA, it’s really hard to take in all the information out there.

Learn about write ahead logging: the concept that can help you make sense of recovery models and backup strategies in SQL Server. This is a foundational concept that helps you understand how SQL Server works.

In this week’s episode, I tell the story of the “Wow!” moment when I learned about write ahead logging from Kimberly Tripp of SQLSkills.com way back when I was a Junior DBA. I give my own take on how write ahead logging works in SQL Server.

Predictably, my version has goofy drawings.

Watch this week’s 18 minute episode, and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’d like to see more. You can also get future episodes in the audio podcast if you like to listen on the go.

I do some storytelling at the beginning of this episode. The tech content starts 8 minutes in if you’d like to skip straight to that part.

Further reading

Junior DBA Training Plan: /2016/03/29/training-plan-for-junior-dbas-learning-sql-server/

Learn about the Write Ahead Transaction Log on TechNet: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms186259.aspx