“But I don’t need to back up that database.”
Brent Ozar shares four stories of people who thought they could avoid backups - and got burned.
2018-05-04
5,663 reads
Additional Articles
150 SQL Code Smells
Some time ago, Phil Factor wrote his booklet 'SQL Code Smells', collecting together a whole range of SQL Coding practices that could be considered to indicate the need for a review of the code. It was published as 119 code smells, even though there were 120 of them at the time. Phil Factor has continued to collect them and the current state of the art is reflected in this article. SQL Prompt is committed to cover as many as possible of them. Phil has also updated his book, which is free to download.
2018-05-03
5,999 reads
Preventing Invalid Data Early In An ETL Flow
In this post, Tim Smith will look at some of the considerations for both data rules and logic to prevent invalid data early in the ETRL process.
2018-05-02
3,324 reads
Introduction to Azure SQL Managed Instance
Microsoft currently offers two built-in methods of running production SQL Server databases in Azure. The first relies on the ability of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Azure virtual machines to host a variety of on-premises workloads, including SQL Server instances. The second one leverages Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)-based Azure SQL Database. With the introduction of the Azure SQL Managed Instance service, you have a third option, which combines the benefits of its two predecessors.
2018-05-01
3,285 reads
Execution Plans and Data Protection
One of the most important tools for query tuning is ability to view execution plans. They are even portable; you can send an execution plan to get advice from someone who doesn't have access to the underlying data. Have you even considered that sensitive information might travel along with the plans? Hugo Kornelis explains how execution plans affect data protection.
2018-04-30
3,411 reads
SQL Server Closure Tables
SQL Server has a couple of different ways to represent hierarchies, but they do not allow storing any additional information that is important to the relationship between objects. In this article, Phil Factor explains how to use closure tables to overcome this deficiency.
2018-04-27
3,926 reads
Hash Join Memory Grant Factors
Remember when that old DBA told you not to SELECT *? Erik Darling explains why.
2018-04-26
2,943 reads
Missing Index Impact and Join Type
Erik Darling shows how missing index requests have different impact numbers depending on the query's join type.
2018-04-26
7,058 reads
SQL Server Graph Databases – Part 3: Modifying Data in a Graph Database
Modifying data in Graph Database tables is similar to working with traditional tables, but there are several things to consider. Robert Sheldon explains how to insert, update, and delete rows of Graph Database tables and explains how to use several new helper functions.
2018-04-25
2,651 reads
Alerts and Notfications for SQL Server Login, Database User and Role Membership Changes
Check out these scripts to create SQL Server jobs and Alerts when a login is created or dropped, a database user is added or dropped and when logins are added or removed from server roles or users are added or removed from database roles.
2018-04-24
3,114 reads
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
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Upgrading Admin Queries
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Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
See possible answers