Sizing a database can be one of the most arduous tasks a DBA, analyst or developer must attend to. It?s time consuming and more hours go into analyzing the database than actually sizing it. This article focuses on how to monitor the database?s growth after its deployed and contains some tips on how to size it before deployment. We will also dive a little into how to benchmark your database against a robust data load.   Read more...

In SQL Server 2005 there is the concept of alias data types, which are similar to user-defined data types in SQL Server 2000. Yakov Shlafman brings us the first part of a series looking at these structures in SQL Server 2000.   Read more...

Two weeks ago Andy started his wildly successful series on Worst Practices. This week he continues that series discussing why failing to use primary keys and clustered indexes are worst practices. Agree or disagree, read the article and join the discussion. One thing you'll have to admit, reading an article by Andy is a lot more interesting than reading Books Online!   Read more...

Part 15 of this series examines what cost is paid when tables are separated into multiple databases on the same server.  Read more...

New Author! Don Peterson writes his first article for us and explores why he considers XML to be...bad! There are some interesting points made here and if you've haven't thought about what XML means to you as a DBA, it's a subject worth spending some time on.   Read more...

My company is just starting to look at adding functionality to retain historical data for key tables and columns for auditing purposes in many of our SQL Server databases. I have seen some of your recent tips related to triggers (Forcing Trigger Firing Order in SQL Server and Trigger Alternatives in SQL Server - OUTPUT Clause). Based on using triggers or a similar technology, what is the best way to store the historical data?  Read more...

In our organization, I have noticed that database requirements are never included as a portion of the system requirements. The requirements always focus on the interface and we derive the database design from the interface as well as fill in some of the gaps.  Read more...

Jambu Krishnamurthy brings us a look at the various options you have available with views and some of the techniques you can use to build a better database by incorporating them in your design.   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...

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

Importing data files is always a challenge for a DBA, especially when the files might vary in format. Having one codebase is important and new author Mark Balasundram brings us the template for a high performance application to do just that.   Read more...

When designing a database, we sometimes come across situations where there are multiple types of entities that we are modeling, but we'd like them to all have certain attributes or relations in common. Using "sub-type" tables is a simple way to implement table inheritance in SQL Server.  Read more...

Everyone should establish some sort of naming convention for their SQL Server platform. It helps to ensure that developers and DBAs can easily find objects and communicate with one another. New author Michael Lato brings us the start of a series on organizing your SQL Server code with an article on naming conventions.   Read more...

5 quick tips to help you become a better data modeler and increase your value to your team and organization.  Read more...

An IP address is something we all recognize and is a piece of data that is quite prevalent in many systems. However it is a piece of data tha presents some challenges in its storage and retrieval. SQL Server guru David Poole presents us with a look at how you can work with this strange formatting.   Read more...

Computed columns are an interesting way to cover some queries that might otherwise require a table scan. SQL Server expert Andy Warren brings us a look at this database design feature.  Read more...

This is one in a series of articles dealing with Database Design following the design of a single system from start to finish.  Read more...

An exploration of the process of translating a conceptual model to a logical model, and ultimately, a faithful implementation using T-SQL.  Read more...

Computer professionals are constantly complaining about the documentation for the software they use. And are notorious for not documenting their own code very well. Longtime author Raj Vasant brings us a short article with some suggestions on how to go about documenting your databases.   Read more...

In working on an existing database, DBAs often look to normalize tables and correct obvious flaws in design. Recently Andy Warren was working on a consulting project and realized that defaults would prevent many issues.   Read more...

Computed columns are an interesting way to cover some queries that might otherwise require a table scan. SQL Server expert Andy Warren brings us a look at this database design feature.  Read more...

Importing data files is always a challenge for a DBA, especially when the files might vary in format. Having one codebase is important and new author Mark Balasundram brings us the template for a high performance application to do just that.   Read more...

An IP address is something we all recognize and is a piece of data that is quite prevalent in many systems. However it is a piece of data tha presents some challenges in its storage and retrieval. SQL Server guru David Poole presents us with a look at how you can work with this strange formatting.   Read more...