Restore With Standby; A Review and A Lesson Learned

A lesson learned when trying to restore backups with standby. You can't upgrade versions.

“Oops, I Lost My Indexes in Azure SQL DB.”

I got an interesting request for consulting, and I’m going to paraphrase it: We were using Azure SQL DB with automatic index tuning enabled for months. Things were going great, but… we just deployed a new version of our code. Our deployment tool made the database schema match our source control, which… dropped the indexes Azure had created. How do we get them back?

AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Certification Exam Tips and Tricks

Microsoft has an exam related to Artificial Intelligence: Exam AI-900. It's related to the Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals. Are there recommended materials to help pass this exam?

How Would You Design This: Scheduling Classes

One of the challenges for many database developers is coming up with a good design that not only meets the specifications but also performs well in queries. Relational databases often seek some level of normalization, which reduces the update load for a system but might require more effort work from developers to write queries. Many […]

Different ways to Convert a SQL INT Value into a String Value

I need to convert an integer to a string value, what options are available in Microsoft SQL Server with T-SQL scripts and stored procedures?

GPT Base, GPT-3.5 Turbo & GPT-4: What's the difference?

A breakdown of OpenAI models, including their strengths, weaknesses, and cost. We also cover lesser-known AI models like Whisper and Embeddings.

PostgreSQL Basics: Getting started with psql

PostgreSQL has a separate command-line tool that’s been available for decades and is included with any installation of PostgreSQL. Many long-term PostgreSQL users, developers, and administrators rely on psql to help them quickly connect to databases, examine the schema, and execute SQL queries.

Knowing how to install and use basic psql commands is an essential skill to have for anyone that will connect to PostgreSQL.

PostgreSQL 101: A guide to PostgreSQL documentation & useful resources

It can be a daunting task for new users to get to grips with PostgreSQL documentation, particularly if you are not from a developer background.

If you are not sure where to start, we are here to help break down the different resources available so you can make the most of them.

In the latest webinar of our PostgreSQL 101 series, join Ryan Booz, PostgreSQL Advocate at Redgate, and Grant Fritchey, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, and discover:

- How to navigate PostgreSQL documentation
- The essential things you need to know about PostgreSQL documentation
- Other useful learning resources to help make your journey to using PostgreSQL easier

Register to join us on September 19th at 11am CT (5pm BST)

SQL Server Execution Plan Issues when using TOP Clause and Various Parameters

A query is sometimes super fast and sometimes very slow. One of the main reasons for this problem is Parameter Sniffing. There are several approaches to addressing the Parameter Sniffing issue and this article discusses effective methods for handling Parameter Sniffing in SELECT statements containing a TOP clause.

Yet Another Reason to Not Use sp_ in your SQL Server Object Names

In 2012, Aaron Bertrand said most everything I knew (and a bit more) about the issues with using the sp_ prefix. Procedures prefixed with sp_ have special powers when placed in the the master database in that it can be executed anywhere on the server after that.