Using a Surrogate vs Natural Key
A common debate in table architecture is whether to use a natural or surrogate key. In this article, I discuss some of the advantages to each method.
2019-10-15
12,802 reads
Articles
Database Tools and Extensions for Visual Studio 2019
In this article, you will explore tools and extensions that can be used with Visual Studio 2019 to improve your database experience irrespective of what database you use.
2019-10-15
A User-Defined Function returns more rows
The Problem Recently, while working with one of my clients, I came across a script in which I had to introduce a scalar User-Defined Function in the SELECT statement. The SELECT used to return around 750K records. However, after introducing the UDF, the row count significantly increased to 826K. There were no other changes made […]
2019-10-14
5,088 reads
Building Machine Learning Models to Solve Practical Problems
Machine learning is a skill that many data professionals are learning as they plan their careers over the next five to ten years. In this article, Supriya Pande gives an overview of machine learning and walks through a practical example.
2019-10-14
Capturing the business value of Compliant Database DevOps
You’ve probably heard of Compliant Database DevOps, but to take it from buzzword to boardroom relies on demonstrating value across your business. IT leaders must think more broadly than cost savings and ROI calculations when investing in scaling DevOps across database teams.
Our latest whitepaper explains how to lay the foundations for a successful DevOps implementation, and how to track success against global metrics that demonstrate your team’s impact across the business.
2019-10-14
Moving beyond principal components analysis
Principal components analysis is a standard, but usually terrible, technique for visualising complex data. We're using network diagrams to solve this problem.
2019-10-11 (first published: 2017-09-19)
2,559 reads
Find SQL Server Installation Date for all Instances with PowerShell
In this tip we look at a PowerShell script you can use to gather information about the installation date for all of your SQL Servers.
2019-10-11
Foreign Keys and Multi-Table Inserts in Oracle
Referential constraints ensure data integrity, but in at least one case can cause occasional problems. Read on to see what can happen and why it can occur...
2019-10-11
Free Solution Brief – Dedicated Database Environments for Dev, Test and CI
Developers and testers can be blocked from having a local, private database to work in because of disk space, refresh times, and data privacy. Download this free solution brief to learn how SQL Provision removes these blockers and enables production-like data to be delivered at speed.
2019-10-11
The Basics of INCLUDE
Learn how the INCLUDE phrase of an index can change the performance of a query.
2019-10-10
27,053 reads
Blogs
The Mystery of SQL Server 2025’s New Tricks – Scooby Dooing Episode 5
Every Scooby-Doo mystery starts with a haunted house, a strange villain, and a trail...
A Prompt AI Experiment
By Steve Jones
Prompt AI released recently and I decided to try a few things with the...
SQL Server Is Slow (part 1 of 4)
By Kevin3NF
How should you respond when you get the dreaded Email/Slack/Text/DriveBy from someone yelling at...
Forums
how to get notification that my database has corssed 8gb
i have sqlexpress on rds, is there any way i can get notifacation that...
SQL Server, Heaps and Fragmentation
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server, Heaps and Fragmentation
Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale – Level 2: Page Server Architecture Explained
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale...
Question of the Day
SQL Server, Heaps and Fragmentation
A table without a clustered index (heap) will NOT suffer from fragmentation during frequent updates or deletes. True or False?
See possible answers