Cracking open the default management packs in SCOM unlock a vast code library for custom automation and monitoring of SQL Server instances.   Read more...

Entity-Attribute-Value model (EAV) is used interchangeably with name for name value pair. This article will try to address advantages and disadvantages of EAV modelling  Read more...

Looking at this from a confidentiality, integrity and availability perspective – the essence of security and compliance – there are quite a few new selling points.  Read more...

Build List Updated with Cumulative Update 7 for SP2.   Read more...

Construct event handlers in SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) for executables. Get the flexibility of Control Flow and Data Flow tabs in Event Handler.  Read more...

While most of the complexity you encounter in synchronization efforts will be unique to your application and infrastructure, synchronization works best when it's designed to be a core feature in each data store.  Read more...

SQL injection has been a hot topic the last couple years and there are some great articles at SQLServerCentral.com on this topic. Michael Coles brings us an updated look at this SQL Server security issue with some new examples you might not have previously thought.   Read more...

This white paper presents general information, best practices, and tips for designing charts within Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reports. It provides an overview of some Reporting Services features, answers common chart design and feature questions, and includes advanced examples of how to design better charts.  Read more...

This article demonstrates how to extract, transform and load free-form data into a structured form like a staging table by way of XML conversions.  Read more...

Part 18 of this series explores several scenarios in which the Merge Web Synchronization can be applied and describes their implementation details.  Read more...

I have a lot of SQL update queries where I need to make IF/ELSE types of decisions. I am using a cursor in some cases but looping through thousands of rows for update takes a long time. I also use some dynamic SQL to handle some query parameter decision making. Is there a better alternative?  Read more...

This review of RedGate's new SQL Multi Script tool that aids you in deploying a script across multiple databases.  Read more...

If you are near Salt Lake City on April 26th, join in the local Code Camp there.  Read more...

CStechcast.com brings another podcast episode to the starting line with guest Kalen Delaney. This SQL Server expert and authoritative author of the Inside SQL Server series gives us her take on SQL Server 2008. Find the latest from Kalen Delaney at insidesqlserver.com and SQLCommunity.com.  Read more...

Are you frustrated by the inefficiency, rigidity and latency of a first-generation, hub-and-spoke-architecture data warehouse? Here's a six-step guide to evolving to a streamlined, robust Kimball Dimensional Bus Architecture that will reduce time to reporting, lower data latency, and deliver more detailed, analytically useful information.  Read more...

A brief introduction into the world of scalability, presenting at a high-level the various options  Read more...

Continuing on with his series, Jacob Sebastian shows how you can shape the query results to a certain pre-defined XML structure in this article.  Read more...

They are new to SQL Server in 2005, but they are not necessarily in common use for many people. New author Kirk Kuykendall brings us a basic look on what a CTE is and how you can use it.  Read more...

How you use dynamic SQL, when you should - and when you should not.   Read more...

That’s correct. SQL Server 2005 SP2 supports data compression using Vardecimal data type.  Read more...

Learn how to use SQL Server PerfMon counters to track Windows memory. SQL Server MVP Kevin Kline explains the maximum numbers to watch for when using PerfMon memory counters.  Read more...

In this article, we will explore another variation of this mechanism, called Web Synchronization, with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition instances operating as merge replication subscribers connecting to a publisher via HTTPS protocol.  Read more...

An interesting tale of David Bird's fight with tempdb.  Read more...