While preparing a demo for a presentation, I generated a 18456 error in the SQL instance by selecting a non-existent database in my connection string.

To my surprise, the SQL Errorlog now discloses the database that I was trying to connect to:

This seems to be improved for at least… Read more

Earlier this month I published a blog entry on this same subject.  In honor of the local Minneapolis launch event, I decided to expand the list.  You can find five more reasons I am excited out on Magenic’s blog. Here is the link and enjoy SQL Server 2012. http://magenic.com/Blog/WhyIAmExcitedaboutSQLServer2012Part2.aspx

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I am looking for a change. Yes, a change. This is the beginning of that quest. This blog will be the silent witness to the battles and struggles I have to go through to get where I want to be.

I have determined the journey but I am yet to… Read more

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Since it is nearly April, I will go ahead and jump the gun again and post an updated version of my SQL Server 2008 Diagnostic Information Queries. This version works on SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2. There are a few queries that only work with SQL… Read more

It’s not fair. I hear it a couple times a day. Sometimes they are right, sometimes not, but it’s how they feel and that is real enough. The first thing I do is listen, because that’s the first thing they need. Once they’ve explained (vented!) then I can tell them… Read more

If you have a source table that has a Tinyint primary key column defined as IDENTITY and you create a Data Source View (DSV) in SSAS and add that table (usually a dimension table), that IDENTITY field will be incorrectly typed as System.int32.

This causes problems when attempting to define… Read more

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, I’ll be presenting “Table Vars and Temp Tables – What you NEED to know!” at SQL Saturday #111 in Alpharetta, GA (just north of Atlanta). Forget the tax man… come out and join me in this code filled session, where we’ll discover the differences and… Read more

SQL Server has a number of encryption features that allow you to better secure your data. This session will examine the basics of encryption and cover the various ways in which you can encode and decode your data to protect it from unauthorized access. Cell level encryption, Transparent Data Encryption,… Read more

More and more of our data does not fit neatly into a structured, relational model of rows and columns of data. In this session, you will learn about how SQL Server stores unstructured data, with a special emphasis on how to use Filestream, which integrates SQL Server with the NTFS… Read more

Introduction

Today, I would like to explain one way in which we can store the HIERARCHICAL data in SQL tables. A general table structure which people come up to store this kind of data is -

Where, EmployeeID id the UniqueID alloted to every new employee record inserted into the… Read more

Introduction

Today, I would like to explain one way in which we can store the HIERARCHICAL data in SQL tables. A general table structure which people come up to store this kind of data is -

Where, EmployeeID id the UniqueID alloted to every new employee record inserted into the… Read more

The second post in the XMLA series focuses on the basic structure of XMLA.  At its heart, XMLA is XML.  As a result it is usually not a comfortable work environment for most database developers or administrators.  It is no different for Analysis Services developers or administrators.  While a discussion…

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Notes by Hugo S., Print Screens from three Microsoft Presentations


7 December, 2011 with Additions combined from early February 2012 day-long presentation of Server 2012’s Top 12 new features. Thank you Frank Wiemer (Data Platform head, Eastern Canada, based in Montreal, for your presentation slides). With these notes, I have…

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One of the challenges I’ve had over the years is figuring out a way to add the SQL Service accounts to the “Perform Volume Maintenance Tasks” and “Lock Pages in Memory” local security policy privileges.

Kendra Little published a post a while back that utilized NTRights.exe. Unfortunately, this is… Read more

One of the challenges you face with SQL Server database mirroring is making sure that all of the databases that are dependent on each other will failover together, so they are running on the same side of the database mirroring partnership at all times.  There is no built-in support for… Read more

One thing I’ve learned is that even losing one hour of sleep or just not sleeping well degrades my ability to handle stress. It feels wimpy to say that, I should be able to handle losing an hour of sleep! Maybe I’ll get to a point where it won’t, but… Read more

When it comes to exporting data there are different options available in SQL Server, such as SQL Server Integration Services, Generating Insert Scripts, BCP, Import and Export Wizard and SQLCMD.

When it comes to exporting data as CSV file, BCP and SQLCMD are the easiest methods.… Read more

A few last minute prep items for DevConnections and I leave in a few hours for Las Vegas. My first trip since last November, and it’s been a welcome break from being on the road. I suspect that won’t last and I’ll be traveling to more spots in the future,… Read more

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