If you've ever wondered if you can do better than an INDEX SCAN when you do a LIKE "%string%" search, read on...  Read more...

This week we have a more technical poll as Steve Jones wonders how you best debug your T-SQL code.  Read more...

Having your data returned to you in some meaningful sorted order is important sometimes. If you don’t tell SQL Server you want to order the results of a SELECT statement then there is no guarantee that your result set will come back in a particular order. To make sure a result set is ordered you need to use the ORDER BY clause. In this article I will be exploring how to return an order result set by using the ORDER BY clause.  Read more...

Learn how you can use SQLCop to prevent your developers from writing stored procedures that are named sp_ something.   Read more...

Feodor Georgiev provides a thorough walkthrough on setting up SQL Server's Data Quality Services (DQS) and creating the rules it uses to function as a first step towards data cleansing.  Read more...

Perspective makes a big difference and Steve Jones looks at how you might change the way you think about clients, customers, and the work you do.  Read more...

As a part of his "Function / Iterator Pairs" mini-series, Business Intelligence architect, Analysis Services Maestro, SQL Server MVP, and author Bill Pearson introduces the DAX MAX() and MAXX() functions, discussing similarities and differences. He then provides some hands-on exposure to the use of each, particularly in combination with other DAX functions, in generating "largest numeric values" to meet differing needs within our PowerPivot model designs.  Read more...

Hadoop is a technology that's getting quite a bit of attention in the last few years, including integration with SQL Server. Steve Jones talks about the technology and how it might fit in your career.  Read more...

In this free eBook Shawn McGehee offers advice on query tuning, cutting stored procedures, and system process design and implementation for high availability. Discover how to perform backup and restore operations using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), basic T-SQL scripts and Red Gate's SQL Backup tool.  Read more...

In this tip Ben Snaidero looks at how to improve SQL Server Bulk Load performance. He focuses his performance tests on options using the BULK INSERT T-SQL command to judge how the various options affect speed.  Read more...

Create and Load Sql Server Tables based on Dynamic Access Database  Read more...

We know that software testing is important, but we often don't do a great job of executing. Steve Jones talk database testing today.  Read more...

SQL Server keeps the most-used execution plans in cache, so it doesn't need to recompile the same queries every time. How can we benefit from this to find potential performance problems in execution plans?  Read more...

Although quite a lot has been written about PowerPivot and its features, there are certain aspects about PowerPivot that may not be obvious, especially to someone who is new to the tool. This articles discusses five such items.  Read more...

Learn how a new feature in SQL Prompt 6.4 can help you avoid costly mistakes in coding.  Read more...

Steve Jones thinks that DevOps is the wave of the future for most companies. He has a few ways to try and bridge the gap between development and Operations groups.  Read more...

An interesting new paradigm popped up in the news this week: the data lake. It examines data as a model for organizational architectures.  Read more...

PCI DSS has strict requirements about implementing security updates and using only applications which are supported by the vendors. How do you create a patching policy for SQL Servers?  Read more...

How to use the EXCEPT statement to perform row differences.  Read more...

This Friday Steve Jones looks at your backup system and wonders how many people use striped backups.  Read more...