Stairways

To keep up to date with all the technologies in SQL Server, the DBA or developer who wants to stay ahead is faced with the struggle of constant learning. How do you keep up while avoiding information overload, unnecessary detours and dead-ends?

The SQL Server Stairways is our solution to this problem. Designed to smooth out even the steepest learning curve, each Stairway is a SQL tutorial series focused on a single topic and is arranged into no more than a dozen easily-navigable tutorials that we call 'steps'. Each step is the length of a typical magazine tutorial, and emphasizes practical, hands-on learning, with just enough background theory to help you understand the topic at a deeper level.

Using straightforward language and avoiding jargon and marketing babble, each Stairway tutorial series is designed to take you from zero knowledge of a particular SQL Server topic to a level of practical understanding that will allow you to start using that feature in a production environment. The learning gradient is steady and manageable, but also brisk. You won't be wasting time.

Happy climbing!

Stairway To Reliable Database Deployments

Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments

This stairway addresses many of the issues that come about with ad hoc database deployment processes in many organizations. You will learn how to better architect and structure your processes to ensure a reliable database deployment for your applications.

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2026-04-15

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Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale

Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale

Azure SQL Hyperscale is a scale of the Azure SQL Database intended to scale to very large levels, up to 100TB for a database. This option sits next to the General Purpose and Business Critical  tiers. It is described in the What is Hyperscale? document from Microsoft. This series is intended to teach you about […]

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2025-08-25 (first published: )

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Stairway to Database containers

Stairway to Database Containers

Containers are a lightweight way of building applications that run on a host. Similar to virtualization, the container is a virtual OS rather than a full machine. This stairway will walk you through the basis of containers using Docker for Windows and SQL Server inside of a container.

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2024-07-28 (first published: )

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Stairway to AlwaysOn

Stairway to Always On

AlwaysOn is a complex set of technologies that is often mis-understood. In this Stairway you will learn about the AlwaysOn technologies, how they fit into the High Availability stack, and how to make good use of them.

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2024-07-23 (first published: )

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Stairway to Server Management Objects (SMO)

This stairway series tries to help the reader become comfortable with server management objects (SMO). These objects are a programmatic way of accessing SQL Server functions and objects through an API from .NET. This series will help you learn the basics with practical applications for your work.

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2024-01-20 (first published: )

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Technical Article

Stairway to SQL Server Automated Database Testing

Automated testing is a way to ensure you can repeatedly examine your code as you make changes by running a series of tests. Since these are automated, you have the ability to execute all tests with one programmatic call rather than hoping a developer runs all tests. This also allows the effort of writing tests […]

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2023-10-15 (first published: )

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Question of the Day

RegEx Functions IV

I have this data in a table in a SQL Server 2025 database:

EmailAddressID EmailAddress
7              dylan0@ADVENTURE-WORKS.COM
8              Diane1@ADVENTURE-WORKS.COM
If I run this query, which row(s) are returned?
SELECT top 10
 *
 FROM person.EmailAddress
 WHERE REGEXP_LIKE(EmailAddress, '^D', 'i')
 AND BusinessEntityID IN (7,8)

See possible answers