I arrived about 7:15 and already quite a few people on hand. Registration was moved to inside this time, just inside the cafeteria, and seemed like a much better traffic flow. Few things I noted on arrival:

• Attendees didn’t receive name badges (this really helps speakers & networking)
• Breakfast set…

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One of the new features that was added to SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in SQL Server 2008, which was continued in SQL Server 2008 R2, is the ability to set custom connection colors for individual instances of SQL Server. The color you set shows up in the bottom of… Read more

I have noticed quite a bit of discussion recently about the merits of Microsoft certification. Some people (like me) think that getting a Microsoft certification is a good thing. It proves that you have at least a certain level of competence with the product, and it shows that you have… Read more

I took control of a new server recently and noticed that Tempdb was not configured to best practice. It was not on its own drive and it consisted of one data file and one log file…The server had a couple of cores, I’m not sure how relevant this is anymore… Read more

Someone asked a question in the forums the other day and I realized it would make a pretty decent blog post to explain the differences in functionality between these two and provide some code for working with them.

Differences

• fn_get_sql returns the last *statement* executed, where as DBCC INPUTBUFFER returns…

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The 12th Annual Emerging Technologies Update Day @ Wharton was very helpful on helping us not forget how IT is evolving longer term:

• Microprocessor. Workloads that required 200 servers 5 years ago can now be executed with only on 13 servers. An increase of 15X computing power on the…

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The Cam river flows through Cambridge, England. At the center of the river you can see a punt (a type of boat) used to navigate the Cam.

I must have attended at least 25 different SQL Server and .NET user groups over the past couple of years, and most of… Read more

First, figure out what you want to write about. It should be something you have passion for. And it should be something where you don't really care if people read it or not. At least that's my philosophy. I write because I love to write. Thankfully, some people see some… Read more

Tomorrow, I’m presenting a couple of sessions at SQLSaturday #29 in Birmingham, Alabama. Here are the presentation materials I’ll use.

• SQL Server Locking & Blocking Made Simple (Presentation | Script 1 | Script 2)
• Tips & Tricks for Writing Better Queries (Presentation | Script)

Reaching…

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Cross apply (and outer apply)  are a very welcome addition to the TSQL language.  However, today after a few hours of head scratching, I have found an simple issue which could cause big big problems.

What would you expect from this statement ?

select * 
  from sys.objects b…

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I've talked about trying to do a SQL Saturday event in Columbia, SC, for the last couple of years, ever since Andy Warren first asked me about it. I've never been able to put together a team to be able to tackle this, but it looks like we have a good… Read more

Among the Microsoft certifications, the Microsoft Certified Master is the apex of all of them except maybe the Microsoft Certified Architect. But you can't run down to your local bookstore, grab a few books, and go take a test to earn it. It requires 3 weeks of study at… Read more

I read Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. ($13 @ Amazon) as one of the books recommended to me earlier in the year when I asked for suggestions. It was a long read, but filled in a lot of blanks about events around the turn of the century,… Read more

There seems to be quite a flurry of talk these days about certification. There is evidence of it in the forums and editorials at SSC, as well as in several personal blogs of various SQL Professionals throughout the community. I even see it happening with the quarterly goals at my… Read more

Views are used quite often within SQL Server for a number of reasons.  They can be used to restrict access to tables (restrict the columns viewable or the records returned) , combine multiple tables into a single 'virtual table', or apply specific sets of formulas(like avg cost or an item).… Read more

Conditional Split is a very powerful component, enabling you to send records in different directions or exclude them from the downstream altogether.  I use this component quite often in my SSIS packages.  In the industry I work in, publishing, there are many times we'll get a file in from…

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I was interviewed by Jon (@JonWaltz) and Hal (@Halr9000) in episode 106 of the PowerScripting Podcast. This was my second time coming on the show and it was great to be back. In the interview we talked about the PowerShell changes in SQL Server 2008… Read more

Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the Red Gate offices Monday morning to find Jeff Aven at the office. I had a double take since Jeff is one of the founders of Hyperbac, and since Red Gate has SQL Backup, I’m surprised that Jeff was even allowed in the… Read more

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