[dba-SQLServer] How to troubleshoot a blue screen

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Sat Jun 16 09:53:20 CDT 2012


My SQL Server blue screens about once a month or so.  It does not appear to be heat related, or at 
least CPU heat related as I have top flight HSFs which hold the temps below 35 C.  The temps in the 
case stay around that temperature or below.  The blue screens appear to be SQL Server related, as 
they seem to be triggered by my doing something in SSMS.  This last time I started an update query 
and it immediately blue screened, by which I mean I clicked start (the query) and the blue screen 
occurred.

This is an AMD dual cpu server, both CPUs populated.  32 gigs ECC RAM on each side.  Being a server 
there is no overclocking.  There is a lot going on hardware wise however.  I use an Areca 16 port 
RAID controller, RAID 6 arrays built from 1 tb WD black drives.  I am using SSDs to create a Raid1 
array hosting several of my Read Mostly databases.  The specific update that caused the blue screen 
was not on SSD however, it was on the Areca rotating media raid 6.

I am at a loss on how to troubleshoot.  It "feels" like it must be a memory problem, and yet the 
memory is ECC.  Perhaps I have a bad DIMM which just flakes out.

-- 
John W. Colby
Colby Consulting

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it




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