Tempdb size resets after a SQL Server service restart
Have you ever checked the size of the SQL Server tempdb after restarting SQL Server to find that it's reset? Simon Liew explains this behaviour.
2017-05-31
3,326 reads
Articles
Validate Integer and Decimal Values in SQL Server
Bhavesh Patel shows how to validate specific use-cases for integer and decimal values in SQL Server.
2017-05-31
3,649 reads
Comparing and Synchronizing Two Folders with Azure
In this article, we will compare two folders using PowerShell, the command prompt and other tools.
2017-05-30
2,361 reads
Azure SQL Database - Dynamic Data Masking
A number of security-related features are built into Azure SQL Database, including Transparent Data Encryption, Row-Level Security, and Azure SQL Database Auditing. Their availability reflects the consistent effort by Microsoft to provide functional parity between Azure SQL Database and SQL Server instances running in Azure virtual machines as well as in your on-premises environment. Another example of this trend is support for Dynamic Data Masking, covered in this article.
2017-05-30
2,632 reads
SQL Server Temporal Tables: How-To Recipes
Tables that return the value of the data in the table at a particular point of time have been with us since the first relational database, but have always required special queries and constraints, and can be tricky to get right. System-versioned Temporal Tables, new in SQL Server 2016, make such tables behave like any other. How do you create one, or modify an existing table? How can you get an In-Memory Optimized OLTP table to be Temporal? Alex Grinberg shows how.
2017-05-30
3,726 reads
Combining R and SQL Server to diagnose performance bottlenecks
Using clustering algorithms to analyse index usage data from SQL Server’s DMVs & simplify complex performance investigations.
2017-05-29 (first published: 2015-12-07)
9,922 reads
Generating Plots Automatically From PowerShell and SQL Server Using Gnuplot
When you are automating a number of tasks, or performing a batch of tests, you want a way of automating the production of your plots and graphs. Nothing beats a good graphical plot for giving the indications of how the process went. If you are using PowerShell and maybe also SQL Server, it pays to use a command-line plotting tool such as Gnuplot to do all the hard work. It turns out to be handy for a range of data jobs, turning PowerShell into a handy data science tool.
2017-05-29
3,301 reads
Using striped backups with SQL Clone
If you’re a Redgate SQL Backup customer, occasionally you’ll need to convert your SQL Backup (.sqb) files to the native SQL Server backup format (.bak), perhaps to perform native database restores on a server where SQL Backup isn’t installed. This produces a striped backup, because each thread used when making the backup will produce a separate file. Can we use a striped backup produced in this way, or indeed any striped backup, as the source for a SQL Clone image? Short answer: we can! Let’s see how that works.
2017-05-29
2,237 reads
SQL Server Datetime vs. Datetime2
Read a short comparison of datetime and datetime2 types. Learn about their structure, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.
2017-05-26 (first published: 2016-01-05)
28,929 reads
How to deploy a database plus static data using SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare
This article from Tony Davis describes how to the use the Redgate SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare GUIs to get the current version of a database schema, and its static data, into version control, and then automate database deployments from the version control system using SQL Compare's command line and PowerShell.
2017-05-26
4,474 reads
Blogs
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...
Au Revoir for now
By Steve Jones
No, I’m not quitting or retiring. Just going on vacation, but I leave tonight...
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