Brian Kelley

Brian Kelley is an author, columnist, and Microsoft SQL Server MVP focusing primarily on SQL Server security. He is a contributing author for How to Cheat at Securing SQL Server 2005 (Syngress), Professional SQL Server 2008 Administration (Wrox), and Introduction to SQL Server (Texas Publishing). Brian currently serves as an infrastructure and security architect. He has also served as a senior Microsoft SQL Server DBA, database architect, developer, and incident response team lead.

Interests: Chess, Reading, Soccer (Football), Baseball, Animals, Theology

Whitepaper on Malware to Attack Databases

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Cesar Cerrudo of Argeniss Information Security has put out a new whitepaper (.pdf format), Data0: Next generation malware for stealing...

2007-11-23

1,977 reads

Physical Fitness

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Real life events continue to interfere with my regular posting. However, I would rather deal with them and neglect posting...

2007-11-19

1,572 reads

Veterans' Day

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I'll post Part III of Becoming a DBA tomorrow (meaning there will be two posts). Veterans' Day is typically celebrated...

2007-11-12

619 reads

Resources: SQL Server 2005 Security

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Work responsibilities took up my time on Thursday and Friday, so I never got around to posting. Here's the resources...

2007-11-11

623 reads

Tools: Apex SQL Log, Apex SQL Log API, Sample Corrupted Databases

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Apex SQL has announced a new version of Apex SQL Log as well as an API for it.
Release Notes...

2007-11-07

790 reads

SQL Server: Showing permissions for a given database user

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

Building upon my post from last Tuesday, if you know all the roles for a given user, you'll probably want...

2007-11-06

613 reads

Becoming a DBA, Part II

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

This is a follow-up to part I from last week. You've considered what you want to do, you've looked at...

2007-11-05

918 reads

The Impact of Architecture/Design Choices

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I try my best to get things right the first time. So often, correcting a mistake or bad choice is...

2007-11-05

686 reads

Online Resource: Safari Tech Books Online

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

I've used Safari (the O'Reilly version) for a number of years now and it is a resource I often recommend...

2007-11-02

864 reads

Why SQL Server 2005 Doesn't Permit Non-ANSI Style OUTER JOINs

by Brian Kelley

Databases – Infrastructure – Security

As of SQL Server 2005, any database in 90 compatibility mode (settable by sp_dbcmptlevel) cannot support non-ANSI OUTER JOINs. Sometimes...

2007-11-01

2,186 reads

Blogs

Narrow Task Decomposition in AI Pipeline Agents

By Eduardo Pivaral

A nightly load into sales_fact fails. Ask an orchestrating agent to break down the...

Car Update: August 2026

It’s been some time since I provided a car update, so I decided to...

Microsoft Fabric OneLake Shortcuts: When to Use Them and When Not To

An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...

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Forums

Backing Up a DMK

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Backing Up a DMK

The Quiet Part

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Quiet Part

BIT_COUNT in SQL Server

Comments posted to this topic are about the item BIT_COUNT in SQL Server

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Question of the Day

Backing Up a DMK

In SQL Server 2025, I have a database with a Database Masker Key (DMK). I want to back up this key and keep a copy offline. When do I have to open this key before running the backup?

See possible answers