AT TIME ZONE – a new favourite feature in SQL Server 2016

Rob Farley explains why AT TIME ZONE is his new favourite feature in SQL Server 2016, but also shows that it can make a mess of cardinality estimates.

Byte Me: JavaScripting

Reading the SQL Server log files using TSQL

The SQL Server Error Log is quite large and it's not always easy to view the contents with the Log File Viewer. Greg Robidoux presents an easy way to search and find errors using T-SQL.

An Introduction to In-Memory OLTP Database Objects

In-memory OLTP was introduced in SQL Server 2014, but greatly improved in SQL Server 2016. If you have a heavily-used transaction-processing that is processing a lot of data, it is definitely worth considering the new 'In-Memory' features of SQL Server 2016. Grant Fritchey explains why.

Indexing Foreign Keys

Foreign Keys are one of the fundamental characteristics of relational databases and enforce the referential integrity. Is it a good idea to index a FK relationship? When can it help?

Creating PowerShell Stacks and Expression Evaluators

To demonstrate that dynamic modules in PowerShell can be used to easily create objects with methods and properties, Phil Factor implements an expression analyser written in PowerShell, using a variation of Dijstra's Shunting Algorithm.

Using SQL Compare with Row Level Security

Row Level Security is one of many new features in SQL Server 2016. It provides a much easier, consistent, and maintainable solution for row-based security rules. In this blog post, Data Platform MVP Steve Jones introduces this new feature, and walks through how Redgate SQL Compare can safely and reliably handle RLS changes.

Best Practices For Building Alerts for Using APIs with SQL Server

Tim Smith shares some ideas about how to handle and alert on irregular data coming from APIs when loading your database.

Restore Gene Version 6 - User Guide

Read about the Restore Genie and the new support for fork points, Azure and Multiple Concurrent Restores.

Direct Query with Power BI

Power BI allows you to connect directly to the data just as if it were a “standard” connection, and modify and extend the data to support analytics. By using DirectQuery, you can build reports based on extremely large datasets where re-importing data not a practical solution. It also allows you to do data aggregations on the server. There are, of course, restrictions as well but it is nevertheless a worthwhile technique to use where appropriate. Adam Aspin explains all.