CHAPTER 17

OL erver Metadata
Metadata is data that describes other data. SQL Server exposes a vast array of
metadata including structural metadata, which describes every object, and descriptive
metadata, which describes the data itself. Metadata is exposed through a series of

• Catalog views
• Information schema views
• Dynamic management views and functions
• System functions
• System stored procedures
In this chapter, we will discuss how metadata can be used to perform actions
at the instance level, such as expose registry values, examine how metadata can
assist in capacity planning, and discuss how metadata can be used for
troubleshooting and
performance tuning. Finally, we will see how metadata can be used to drive
automated maintenance.

Tip Metadata is a high topic worthy of a book in its own right. I therefore
encourage you to play with other metadata objects, which may not be covered
in this chapter.

Introducing Metadata Objects

Catalog views reside in the sys schema. There are many catalog views, some of the
most useful of which, such as sys. master_files, are explored in this chapter. Listing 17-
1 shows an example of how to use a catalog view to produce a list of databases that
are in FULL recovery model.

623
0 Peter A. Carter 2019
P. A. Carter, Pro SQL Server 2019 Administration, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5089-l_17
Thank you for using www.freepdfconvert.com service!

Only two pages are converted. Please Sign Up to convert all pages.

https://www.freepdfconvert.com/membership