Security was a major focus of SQL Server 2005 during its development, both in terms of making the product secure as well as enhancing the options. Security expert Brian Kelley brings us a look at how the paradigm of logins has changed and what you need to look for in SQL Server 2005.   Read more...

This article shows how to implement an automatic sliding window in a partitioned table on Microsoft SQL Server 2005.  Read more...

We are just getting started with PerformancePoint Server 2007 and trying to help our business users to develop their first scorecard. For those of you who are new to Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, PPS is a recent addition to the Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) offering.  Read more...

On my database server I have my databases set to the full recovery model, but the transaction logs get quite big, so I am issuing a BACKUP LOG with NO_LOG. I am not exactly sure if this causes any issues, but I know that I am able to free up space in my transaction log and shrink the file. Is this the correct way to handle this situation?  Read more...

An proposal about using simple server name resolution and INI files to make a DTS package portable.  Read more...

One of the more obscure requirements that a developer may find themselves facing is the need to compare a row with its immediate sibling. One such case is when a list of values needs to be processed to produce a moving average or to smooth a sequence of statistical numbers where their order is important. For example, values lying along a time line. The solution is actually quite simple, but not immediately obvious.  Read more...

This article illustrates how to query dynamic management views to find the TOP queries based on average CPU and average I/O.  Read more...

When you are trying to pin down the cause of a problem with a SQL Server, there is probably going to come a time when you need to get 'trace' information. If you've ever done that, you'll know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by the detail. Here, Shawn McGehee shows how to get round the problem by capturing trace information on a schedule, filtering the captured information, and monitoring it from a central location.  Read more...

Continuing on with part 18 of his series, MVP Jacob Sebastian examines building an RSS feed in T-SQL.  Read more...

The trials and tribulations of our first attempt using Virtual Servers  Read more...

A note from the editor on our very popular Question of the Day. Learn what it is, how it works, and what you can do to improve it.  Read more...

Different ways of passing sets of data between stored procedures.  Read more...

Row Level Version is one of the most coolest features introduced by SQL 2005.  Read more...

Robyn Page and Phil Factor show how to use XML-based arrays to make string handling easier in SQL Server 2005/2007, and illustrate the techniques with some useful functions  Read more...

Last week new MVPs were announced and a couple of our authors were awarded.  Read more...

There is not enough time in the day to keep it all straight! There is no shame in making use of any short cuts or cheats that allow you to be a more productive and well-versed SQL Professional in order to cope with the sheer volume of expectations you are required to meet on a daily basis.   Read more...

Working with NULL functions can be tricky in T-SQL and SQL Server 2000. If you add in aggregates, you need to be sure you understand what the behavior will be or you might report incorrect values to a user. Michael Coles has written a new article that talks about how NULL affects your results.   Read more...

This article details the steps to automate the generation of Sql profiler traces in a Testing environment. The facility is useful when an application is User Acceptance Testing phase where a bunch of test users logon to the Testing site and use the application.  Read more...

Few would disagree that striving for a loosely coupled design is a bad thing. Unfortunately, the software we typically design is much more tightly coupled than we intend. How can you tell whether your design is tightly coupled?  Read more...

Learn about common data integrity issues, and see how Analysis Services 2005 gives you the tools to handle them.  Read more...