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SQLServerCentral Article

Cloning Master Admin User Permissions in Amazon RDS for SQL Server with Fine-Grained Control

This article explores how to securely clone the master user permissions in Amazon RDS for SQL Server using a custom stored procedure, usp_rds_clone_login. It outlines a step-by-step process to generate, review, and apply a script that replicates server- and database-level access from the master user to a new login without directly exposing elevated credentials. The guide emphasizes the principle of least privilege, supports named account management, and enables transparent, auditable permission handling for DBAs and applications. Designed for secure and scalable environments, this solution enhances operational security while maintaining administrative flexibility in Amazon RDS.

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2025-07-09

961 reads

SQLServerCentral Article

PostgreSQL Aggregate Functions

Overview In this article we will go through the various in built aggregate functions available in PostgreSQL. Aggregate functions perform a calculation on a set of rows and return a single value. COUNT Function The COUNT function is a simple and very useful function in counting the number of records, which are expected to be […]

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2025-07-09

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SQLServerCentral Article

Unmasking CXPACKET and CXCONSUMER in SQL Server: What Your Execution Plan Isn’t Telling You

This article dives deep into cxpacket and cxconsumer in sql server, explaining how to simulate each, when they appear, and why they matter. Using live execution plans, wait monitoring, and worker thread diagnostics, we uncover how uneven parallelism triggers thread sync waits—and how SQL Server sometimes hides real issues behind innocent-looking CXCONSUMER waits. Includes step-by-step queries, tuning tips, and a real-world scenario where repartition streams quietly ruined performance.

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2025-07-07

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External Article

State Transition Constraints

About two decades ago, I introduced the concept of transition constraints to show Data Validation in a database is a lot more complex than seeing if a string parameter really is an integer. In October of 2008, I did an article called Constraint Yourself! on how to use DDL constraints to assure data integrity. One of the topics in that piece was a look at state transition constraints via an auxiliary table.

2025-07-07

SQLServerCentral Article

Parameterize Connections in Microsoft Fabric Data Factory using Variable Libraries

Building pipelines in Microsoft Fabric can be complicated, and it's easy to write code that is hard to maintain. Using parameters in your connections helps to build pipelines that are easily configured.

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2025-07-04 (first published: )

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Changing the Schema

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Question of the Day

Changing the Schema

I set up a few users on my SQL Server 2022 instance.

CREATE LOGIN User1 WITH PASSWORD = 'Demo12#1'
CREATE USER User1 FOR LOGIN User1
GO
CREATE LOGIN User2 WITH PASSWORD = 'Demo12#2'
CREATE USER User2 FOR LOGIN User2
GO
CREATE LOGIN User3 WITH PASSWORD = 'Demo12#3'
CREATE USER User3 FOR LOGIN User3
GO
I then created a schema that one of them owned. Under this schema, I added a table with some data.
CREATE SCHEMA MySchema AUTHORIZATION User1
GO
CREATE TABLE Myschema.MyTable(myid INT)
GO
INSERT MySchema.MyTable
(
    myid
)
VALUES
(1), (2), (3)
GO
SELECT * FROM MySchema.MyTable
GO
I granted rights and verified that User2 could access this table.
GRANT SELECT ON Myschema.MyTable TO User2
GO
SETUSER 'USER2'
GO
SELECT * FROM MySchema.MyTable
GO
This worked. Now, I move this schema to a new user.
ALTER AUTHORIZATION ON SCHEMA::Myschema TO User3;
GO
What happens with this code?
SETUSER 'USER2'
GO
SELECT * FROM MySchema.MyTable
GO

See possible answers