What happens when it's time to retire a system?  Read more...

Many technical people use Virtual Machines to build their own lab or test environment. Today Steve Jones asks how you've built your setup.  Read more...

What is continuous integration for databases? Steve Jones gives a short explanation and information on why you might care about this.  Read more...

Do you know how often to back up your SQL Server transaction log? Steve Jones has a few thoughts today and notes that you definitely need to know how to restore the log backups.  Read more...

Microsoft published a vision for their data platform and SQL Server recently. Steve Jones has a few thoughts on what this means for you. Hint: it's cloudy.  Read more...

Why do employees leave their companies? There are a variety of reasons, but when your most talented people leave, that's a concern. Steve Jones comments on what we might do about this.  Read more...

We've all been there, trying to improve performance in a panic situation and not making things better.  Read more...

Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren. He talks about strange questions in interviews and whether they help you assess the candidate.  Read more...

Steve Jones likes the Cloud and gives a few reasons why. He also thinks we'll see more data in the cloud over time.  Read more...

A tiny misunderstanding in the server room...  Read more...

Old data can come back to haunt you. Steve Jones talks about potential problems when data comes back to life.  Read more...

Big Data is being used to analyze more and more data to produce better decisions. However that doesn't always work as people might expect. Steve Jones talks about some of the issues with using Big Data in hiring.  Read more...

Backing up MongoDB is akin to backing up SQL Server databases with a Windows tool such as Microsoft DPM. It removes almost all control over the database backup, and more critically, the database restore operation.   Read more...

This week Steve Jones wonders what you might want to add to SQL Server. With SQL Server 2016 likely in the early planning stages, where would you want to see the development effort focused.  Read more...

Patents are one way that governments can spur innovation. However many people think software patents should be eliminated. Steve Jones doesn't think so, but would like reform.  Read more...

Is the DBA Dead? Steve Jones scoffs at the notion put forth in an article and says we'll be using DBAs for a long time. He does, however, admit the role is changing.  Read more...

There hasn't been a service pack for SQL Server in a long time. Without knowing the plans for the future, Steve Jones asks you to express your own opinions.  Read more...

Could you manage 20,000 databases? That's how many servers each person at Facebook has to manage in operations.  Read more...

Phil factor warns against taking SQL Coding 'best-practices' too much at face value. They can, at best, assist in reviewing code, and at the worst they can prevent the developer from finding the best solution.  Read more...

This Friday Steve Jones wants to know what types of things are you checking for on your instances. What items can cause you issues if you don't proactively monitor for them.  Read more...