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Tip: Resetting Identity Fields

Banyardi Schmardi from SQLServerCentral.com

How to reset an identity field to the next contiguous value, after deletions. More »

SQL Saturday #172 - Washington, D.C.

Press Release from SQLServerCentral.com

A free day of training in the US nation's capital. Come join in if you are nearby. More »

How to Identify and Backup the Latest SQL Server Database in a Series

Additional Articles from MSSQLTips.com

I have to support a third party application that periodically creates a new database on the fly. This obviously causes issues with our backup mechanisms. The databases have a particular pattern for naming, so I can identify the set of databases, however, I need to make sure I'm always backing up the newest one. Read this tip to ensure you are backing up your latest database in a series. More »

The cloud is scary. Without a doubt the idea of outsourcing parts of your organization's technology department should concern you if you manage systems. Anything outsourced, whether to another firm or automation, means there is less work for you to do. Even in the places where automation grows, we find that sometimes the growth of systems occurs so fast that there are still things for a worker to do, but that's a losing battle in the long term. At some point the automation will catch up and less people will be needed to manage the systems.

However the news isn't all bad. There are some systems that will always be managed inside of a company. Whether because of regulatory requirements, performance needs, or even just the stubbornness of management, I am sure that some percentage of systems at most companies will remain in-house. Those will be the minority of systems in some places, and since many of us change jobs at some point in our careers, we should be concerned. 

I would argue that all of us working in technology should be looking to improve our skills in whatever field we work. However we should be growing the skills in the hard parts of our jobs, in the parts that we struggle to automate or describe. The easy parts of our jobs will become more automated, more likely to be managed by a tool or outsourced. The hard parts, the thoughtful parts, those are the skills we should concentrate on when improving our skills.

Outsourcing isn't all bad. As Toyota has outsourced some of their systems, they are not looking to shrink their IT department. Instead they are focusing on delivering new products and services for their customers. Make sure you are prepared to take advantage of new opportunities if your company follows a similar path.

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral.com

» Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

• Watch the Windows Media Podcast - 16.3MB WMV
• Watch the iPod Video Podcast - 17.5MB MP4
• Listen to the MP3 Audio Podcast - 3.5MB MP3

The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there. Overall RSS Feed: or now on iTunes!

Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:

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Today's Question:

This question and answer have been validated for SQL Server versions 2008 and 2008 R2 (and may be correct for other releases too). If x is a char(1) variable, how many values can it take for which

@x LIKE '[aeiou]' collate Latin1_General_ci_ai AND NOT
  ( @x like 'A' collate Latin1_General_ci_ai  OR
    @x like 'E' collate Latin1_General_ci_ai  OR
    @x like 'I' collate Latin1_General_ci_ai  OR
    @x like 'O' collate Latin1_General_ci_ai  OR
    @x like 'U' collate Latin1_General_ci_ai
  )

is true?

By Tom Thomson

Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

This question is worth 2 points in this category: T-SQL. We keep track of your score to give you bragging rights against your peers.

We'd love to give you credit for your own question and answer. To submit a QOD, simply log in to Contribution Center.

SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach

SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Recipes is an example-based guide to the Transact-SQL language that is at the core of SQL Server 2012. It provides ready-to-implement solutions to common programming and database administration tasks. Learn to create databases, insert and update data, generate reports, secure your data, and more. Tasks and their solutions are broken down into a problem/solution format that is quick and easy to read so that you can get the job done fast when the pressure is on. Get your copy from Amazon today.

Once referential integrity is enforced, which of the following statements are not correct? (choose 2)

By Samith C

Answer:

• Can delete a row from primary table if there are related rows in secondary table
• Can insert a new row in secondary table if there are not related rows in primary table

Explanation: We can't delete rows from the primary table if the secondary table contains referential rows. We also can't insert a new row in the secondary table without primary references.

Ref : http://www.craigsmullins.com/sql_ref.htm

» Discuss this question and answer on the forums

SQL Server 2012 Query Performance Tuning

SQL Server 2012 Query Performance Tuning leads you through understanding the causes of poor performance, how to identify them, and how to fix them. You’ll learn to be proactive in establishing performance baselines using tools like Performance Monitor and Extended Events. You’ll learn to recognize bottlenecks and defuse them before the phone rings. You’ll learn some quick solutions too, but emphasis is on designing for performance and getting it right, and upon heading off trouble before it occurs. Delight your users. Silence that ringing phone. Put the principles and lessons from SQL Server 2012 Query Performance Tuning into practice today.

Get your copy from Amazon today.

Get space used by queries in tempdb

Harsha Majety from SQLServerCentral.com

See what is taking up space in tempdb. More »

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.

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