Moving data around can be a challenge as the sizes of our databases grow. Steve Jones talks about some of the challenges and some creative ways you might consider moving data.  Read more...

Once databases are placed in source control, it is possible to integrate them into the existing build automation process. This will ensure that the whole development project, including the database, can be integrated regularly and tested by an automated build system. This, in turn, leads to opportunities for more frequent, reliable deployments.  Read more...

Hadoop has been making a lot of noise in the Big Data world. Despite my lack of Linux experience I decided to take the plunge and this is what I found.  Read more...

Get correct answers to your SQL forum questions faster by making it easier to load your sample data and read your code.  Read more...

Greg Larsen shares a number of different TSQL methods to provide paging functionality, for when your application requires that you display only one page of data at a time.  Read more...

Do you let your fear drive you in how you work with technology? Steve Jones thinks you should be cautious, but not paralyzed.  Read more...

This article details an Excel 2010 function to return the cell address of min and max functions.  Read more...

Steve Jones enjoys his career in technology and hopes that you do as well.   Read more...

Have you ever heard this question? The database refresh has gone from 10-15 minutes to 1.5 hours. Nothing has changed on the application server and the consultant said ask the DBAs to check the database server. Where do you start to find the problem? Check out this tip to learn more.  Read more...

How to get an SSRS user's AD group membership in order to filter report content  Read more...

With a huge increase in the number of online learning frameworks, Dave Convery wonders how comfortable people are with this new way of polishing their skills.  Read more...

Join us for a free day of SQL Server Training on June 8, 2013. There's also a Friday Preconference Training Day with Jonathan Kehayias and Joseph Sack.  Read more...

Today Steve Jones looks at the way software affects the world and how we might be worried about how things might change in the future.  Read more...

Despite all the advances in software tools, there seem to be several enduring truths about software development. By understaning these 'laws', Ziv’s law, Humphrey’s Law and Conway’s Law for example, you can remove some of the mystery of the process. Al Noel discusses these and other laws that seem to apply generally to the art of programming.  Read more...

Learn how to load data in an XML file into a table in SQL Server.  Read more...

Tomorrow is the bicentennial SQL Saturday event. SQL Saturday #200 takes place in Philadelphia, and Steve Jones has some thoughts as he travels to the City of Brotherly Love.  Read more...

Any queries run against SQL Server or Oracle databases are recorded, along with how many times those queries were run and how long they took. That information is shown alongside your .NET code, so you can quickly see why the code you wrote resulted in those queries being executed. This can be particularly powerful if you’re using ORMs like Entity Framework to access data, which tend to be an impenetrable black box where performance issues can arise, but where it’s difficult to understand why.  Read more...

Your production SQL Server transactional replication just failed and the business impact is critical. How do you get replication restored in minutes?  Read more...

There isn't a lot of acceptance of Azure from DBAs. Steve Jones talks about some of the advantages of Azure and thinks that we should be working to ensure that our internal systems respond at the same speed as people can get from Azure.  Read more...

In this tip Aaron Bertrand describes some of the ways in which you can extend the DDL trigger functionality.  Read more...