Join Paul White in part three of a four-part series exploring the internals of query optimization as he looks at the rules that are used to build the execution plan.  Read more...

How does the query optimizer build an execution plan for your queries? Paul White shows is in part two of a four-part series exploring the internals of query optimization.   Read more...

Part one of a four-part series exploring the internals of query optimization from T-SQL guru, Paul White.  Read more...

DDL triggers enable us to audit DDL changes but there are a few missing events, design decisions and installation complications.  Read more...

Learn three methods of creating random numbers that do not repeat in this article from Brandie Tarvin.  Read more...

Determining which columns to index in a table used to be a very time consuming process that was as much art as science. New author Ranga Narasimhan brings us an article that shows how SQL Server 2005 makes this much easier.  Read more...

In a recent thread here on SQL Server Central, it was pointed out that a member of the securityadmin fixed...  Read more...

The provided SSIS package contains a single script task that will script all SQL Server 2000/2005/2008 Agent Jobs into individual files.  Read more...

This article is the beginner's guide to Default Trace. The article outlines how to query the default trace for key trace events, with a focus on DDL history.  Read more...

SQL Server 2005 includes a number of built-in reports to assist you in troubleshooting and measuring performance. In this tip I will cover the Built in SQL Server Performance Reports related to SQL Server Agent within SQL Server 2005.  Read more...

Explanation of how to repair a database in SQL 2005 Enterprise which is mirrored.  Read more...

The second of a series by Paul White examining the APPLY operator. In this section learn how this operator compares with joins and about both the cross and outer options.  Read more...

The first of a two-part series of articles examining the APPLY operator. Learn the basics of how this operator works and how it can help you solve some tricky problems.  Read more...

In SQL Server 2008, by default, the option to prevent tables changes is "on". We can have some issues and...  Read more...

Getting errors and output messages when using xp_cmdshell can be tricky. This method can solve your problems.  Read more...

Learn a foolproof way to get identity values for multi-row inserts with the OUTPUT clause in SQL Server 2005 without using a cursor.  Read more...

By utilizing service broker, xp_cmdshell and dtexec.exe SSIS packages can be run with a stored procedure.  Read more...

Don't forget to vote for SP4  Read more...

Easily manage operations against large data sets, be able to stop and start operations at a whim and throttle them up or down to manage system performance.  Read more...

Don't forget to vote for SP4  Read more...