Confession Time: I Never Taught You About B-Trees.
I work with databases for a living. I teach people, and I help them via consulting. And as far as I can remember, I’ve never written something about how b-trees work.
2026-07-15
Articles
It’s 2026. Why are databases still failing GDPR compliance audits?
This article examines three recurring database-layer failures documented in the EDPB’s 2026 enforcement findings: the complexity of executing erasure across relational schemas, the backup paradox that can silently undo compliant deletions, and the audit log contradiction that traps organizations between two competing obligations.
2026-07-14 (first published: 2026-07-13)
TRY_PARSE vs TRY_CONVERT in SQL Server: From Basics to Practical Usage
This article shows how the TRY_PARSE() and TRY_CONVERT() functions can be used to handle data quality issues and ensure that your software continues to function without throwing errors.
2026-07-13
3,739 reads
Understanding Deadlock Victim Selection in SQL Server
A short introduction to how deadlocks work and how you can affect their behavior inside your system.
2026-07-13 (first published: 2026-05-01)
3,089 reads
Why Your SQL Permissions Disappeared
When you change a schema owner in SQL Server, all object-level permissions vanish instantly. There is no warning. Here's how to prevent it and fix it when it happens.
2026-07-10
3,153 reads
Correct SQL Server Always On Availability Group Not Synchronizing
We had an issue with a SQL Server database in an Always On Availability Group (AOAG) where it was not synchronizing the secondary replica even though it was using the “Synchronous commit” Availability Mode for the secondary replica. This article explains how to troubleshoot and resolve:
2026-07-10
Five Intelligent Query Processing Features in SQL Server 2022 That Quietly Tune Your Workload
Learn about a few new features built into SQL Server 2022 that can help improve performance on your workload.
2026-07-08
3,486 reads
How to call an Ollama-based AI text embeddings model from SQL Server 2025
Learn how to call locally hosted Ollama embedding models from SQL Server using sp_invoke_external_rest_endpoint
2026-07-08
Calculating Geometric Mean in Power BI
Learn how to add the geometric mean in Power BI to your calculations.
2026-07-06
1,184 reads
SQL Server Contained Availability Groups Configuration
In a previous tip on Orphaned User Detection for SQL Server High Availability Databases, we have seen how to identify when there are orphaned database users in an Availability Group database. Is there a way where we no longer need to worry about missing database users or different SID values between primary and secondary databases in an Availability Group?
2026-07-06
Blogs
Prep data for AI vs. Fabric Data Agent Instructions: What Goes Where?
By James Serra
Making Data AI-Ready, Part 3 (This is the final article in a three-part series...
Keeping Track of my ConEmu CLIs
By Steve Jones
I use ConEmu for my terminal interface. I’m still on Windows 10 at home,...
10 Decisions to Make Before You Create A Fabric Workspace
Creating a Fabric workspace takes about 30 seconds. Restructuring workspaces after people have built...
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Question of the Day
Hyperscale Replicas III
In an Azure SQL Database Hyperscale Edition, how many named replicas can be configured?
See possible answers