Securing Secrets in Azure DevOps
Azure DevOps tasks often contain sensitive credentials and secrets that need to be appropriately secured and in this article I demonstrate how to implement different options.
2020-11-13
Articles
SQL Monitor 11.0: Monitor SQL Servers hosted on Amazon RDS
We’ve just released SQL Monitor 11.0, and for this latest version we partnered with Amazon AWS to let you monitor SQL Severs hosted on Amazon RDS. You can monitor these alongside your on-premises and other cloud-based servers, instances, and databases, giving you visibility in a single pane of glass. Version 11.0 also introduces new advanced tempdb monitoring metrics, and significant performance improvements.
2020-11-13
How to simulate Case statement in Azure Data Factory (ADF) compared with SSIS?
This post will describe how you use a CASE statement in Azure Data Factory (ADF). If you are coming from SSIS background, you know a piece of SQL statement will do the task. However let's see how do it in SSIS and the very same thing can be achieved in ADF. Problem statement For my […]
2020-11-12
22,580 reads
Checking the pulse of Kubernetes
In this article, Michael Sorens describes the many ways that you can monitor Kubernetes.
2020-11-12
Creating a SQL Code Snippet in SQL Prompt and SSMS
Phil Factor's "getting started" guide for turning all your trusted and most frequently used queries into SQL code snippets.
2020-11-12
Bridging the divide between Data Management and DevOps
The speed, flexibility and collaboration of DevOps can be difficult to achieve against the rigid schemas, manual processes, and silos in the world of data management. Join Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Grant Fritchey to discover the key strategies you can implement to bridge the divide between data management and DevOps in your organization.
2020-11-11
Free eBook: Understanding SQL Server Concurrency
When you can’t get to your data because another application has it locked, a thorough knowledge of SQL Server concurrency will give you the confidence to decide what to do.
2020-11-11 (first published: 2013-07-17)
106,148 reads
SQL Server Clustered Index Fragmentation on GUID Columns
In this article we take a look at using GUID columns in your SQL Server database tables and the impact GUID columns may have on indexing.
2020-11-11
Block user objects from being created in a master database
Introduction The Master database. Just in case that you are not familiar with this database, the Master database is used in SQL Server to store all the system information, instance-level settings, logon information, database file locations, etc. SQL Server can't run without access to a fully functional master database. It's highly recommended not to use […]
2020-11-10
4,139 reads
Storage 101: Monitoring storage metrics
Well tuned storage is essential for SQL Server performance. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains the metrics that are important to watch.
2020-11-10
Blogs
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later)
By SQLPals
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later) Updated...
The flight recorder: Replaying what an AI agent did on my SQL Server
By Arun Sirpal
“What exactly did it do on my server?” is the first question a DBA...
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference — Barcelona 2026
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Forums
Let's Talk Certifications
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The Hidden Security Risks of Role Combination in SSAS Tabular
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
The Empty Aggregate
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Empty Aggregate
Question of the Day
The Empty Aggregate
I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder] ( [OrderID] [int] NULL, [CustomerID] [int] NULL, [total] [money] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOWhat is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;
See possible answers