This is a collection of the top Microsoft Support solutions for the most common issues experienced when using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (updated quarterly). Note that some content that applies to earlier versions of SQL Server is listed, because it can be also helpful with SQL Server 2012 issues.
1. Solutions related to performance – server:
- Deadlock Troubleshooting, Part 1
- Pssdiag and Sqldiag Manager
- Working with tempdb in SQL Server 2005 (download)
- Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2008
- SQL Nexus Tool
- Recommendations and guidelines for the "max degree of parallelism" configuration option in SQL Server
- SQL Server I/O Basics, Chapter 2
- Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Performance Dashboard Reports
2. Solutions related to Cluster failover:
- SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance is taken offline when you change the password for the service account on the passive node
- Error during installation of an SQL server Failover Cluster Instance
- Sql Server Resource Fails to come online on Cluster with Error Error Locating Server/Instance Specified [xFFFFFFFF]
- A SQL Server cluster resource goes to a "failed" state when you try to bring the resource online in SQL Server
- Recommended hotfixes and updates for Windows Server 2012-based failover clusters
- DBA 101: Collecting and Interpreting Failover Cluster Logs
- Why is my SQL Clustered Instance changing authentication modes?
- SQL Server Cluster Failover Root Cause Analysis–the what, where and how
- You get "Failover instance 'MSSQLSERVER' cluster group not found" when you try to add a new node to a single node SQL Server Failover cluster.
- How to change SQL Server parameters in a clustered environment when SQL Server is not online
3. Solutions related to AlwaysOn Availability Group resource unexpected failures:
- SQL Server 2012 - True Black Box Recorder
- AlwaysOn Troubleshooter How to Recover - Recovering Availability Databases on Primary WhenNOT_HEALTHY and Cannot be Accessed
- AlwaysOn Troubleshooter Creating Availability Group Wizard Warns The current WSFC cluster quorum vote configuration is not
- AlwaysOn Troubleshooter Automatic Failover Fails, Secondary Transitions to Resolving Role, Not Primary
- AlwaysOn Troubleshooter Unexpected automatic failover of availability group
- AlwaysOn Availability Groups Troubleshooting and Monitoring Guide
- Voting nodes are not available when you try to use AlwaysOn availability groups in SQL Server 2012
- How to restore a replica to the primary role after the quorum is lost in SQL Server 2012
- Troubleshooting AlwaysOn availability databases in a "recovery pending" or "suspect" state in SQL Server 2012
- Troubleshooting automatic failover problems in SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn environments
4. Solutions related to Stand-alone – setup or upgrade:
- You may encounter problems when installing SQL Server on a domain controller
- How to use SQL Server in Windows and Windows Server environments
- Windows Installer starts repeatedly after you install SQL Server 2012 SP1
- Known issues installing SQL Server on Windows 7 or on Windows Server 2008 R2
- The installation process of SQL Server 2008 or of SQL Server 2008 R2 may fail if the server alias is defined in the Client Network Utility
- How to restore the missing Windows Installer cache files and resolve problems that occur during a SQL Server update
5. Solutions related to Crashes and exceptions
- How to troubleshoot SQL Server database consistency errors
- SQL Server reports errors for exceptions, assertions, and hang conditions
- How to choose antivirus software to run on computers that are running SQL Server
- The use of third-party detours or similar techniques is not supported in SQL Server