The Hidden Danger of Wildcard Operators In Join Operations
This article looks at one of the killers of performance at scale, SELECT *.
How to get clean, usable data out of SQL Server into Python
Build scalable data pipelines by pushing transformations into SQL and keeping Python focused on analysis.
Building Great Software
Steve notes that building great software isn't easy, and there is a lot of work that goes into this. Even in today's age of AI.
OUTER APPLY Fundamentals: Part 2
In Part 2 of this series we learn how OUTER APPLY can be used in your queries to return data, even when there are no matches between tables.
Create SQL Server 2025 Availability Groups with SSMS Wizard
SQL Server Availability Groups are great for DR and HA purposes. In this article, we look at how to setup a SQL Server 2025 Availability Group using the features in SQL Server Management Studio.
How to Work with On-Premises AI Models to Generate T-SQL Code
See how a small local model performs on some SQL tasks. This shows how Ollama can run a model on your laptop.
Imagine the Physical World
Today Steve notes that he often compares the work a computer does to what might happen if the same actions occurred in the physical world.
How SQL Server maintenance becomes an attack path – and what to do about it
The article covers four connected areas: over-privileged database users, msdb and SQL Server Agent exposure, privileged maintenance jobs, and trigger-based permission hijacking.
Managing Incidents and Fighting Fires
Managing incidents as a DBA /DB manager and some of the key things you should be doing.
Blogs
Take Time to Gain Perspective
By Brian Kelley
Probably the best piece of advice I ever received is to take time to...
The Fringe Festival
By Steve Jones
I was lucky enough to take a vacation a decade ago in Edinburgh with...
Demo for Parameter Sniffing and Memory Grant Feedback
Disclaimer: The following is built with Claude Code. Just need to justify my $100/mo...
Forums
The SQL Server MCP Server
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The Hidden Danger of Wildcard Operators In Join Operations
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A Worse Computer; A Better Car
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The SQL Server MCP Server
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