T-SQL window functions were introduced in 2005 with more functionality added in 2012. Many database professionals are not aware of these useful functions. In this article, Kathi Kellenberger provides a quick overview of just what a window function is as well as examples of each type of function.
2018-06-28
4,353 reads
This white paper illustrates how Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) can be used in conjunction with commodity hardware or virtual machines running in Microsoft Azure to build elastic, highly available, and highly scalable ETL solutions.
2018-06-27
2,592 reads
Data breaches make the news on an almost daily basis. There is no turning back, however, as we are firmly entrenched in this digital way of life. Brian Kelley discusses some of the reasons data breaches occur and what we can do to prevent them.
2018-06-26
3,121 reads
SQL Server 2014 introduces the first major redesign of the SQL Server Query Optimizer cardinality estimation process since version 7.0. The goal for the redesign was to improve accuracy, consistency and supportability of key areas within the cardinality estimation process, ultimately affecting average query execution plan quality and associated workload performance. This paper provides an overview of the primary changes made to the cardinality estimator functionality by the Microsoft query processor team, covering how to enable and disable the new cardinality estimator behavior, and showing how to troubleshoot plan-quality regressions if and when they occur.
2018-06-26
2,974 reads
Power BI Desktop is the free tool from Microsoft for developing in Power BI. In this article, Robert Sheldon walks you through importing and manipulating data with the Query Editor in Power BI Desktop.
2018-06-25
3,270 reads
In this tip we look at how we can use Python and SQL Server 2017 to send alerts from SQL Server to Slack messaging service.
2018-06-25
2,903 reads
Stuffing table variables with hard-coded values to demonstrate concurrency.
2018-06-22
2,793 reads
In-Memory OLTP is a high performance, memory-optimized engine integrated into SQL Server 2014 and designed for modern hardware trends. In-Memory OLTP allows users to move data into memory resident tables while keeping other data in traditional, disk-based table structures. For performance critical workloads, users can also migrate Transact-SQL code to natively compiled stored procedures. This can provide additional performance gains. This paper aims to help readers understand some of the common architectural patterns where In-Memory OLTP has provided significant benefits. The paper also discusses considerations for migrating applications to In-Memory OLTP.
2018-06-22
2,677 reads
In-Memory OLTP (project “Hekaton”) is a new database engine component, fully integrated into SQL Server. It is optimized for OLTP workloads accessing memory resident data. In-Memory OLTP allows OLTP workloads to achieve significant improvements in performance, and reduction in processing time. Tables can be declared as ‘memory optimized’ to enable In-Memory OLTP’s capabilities. Memory-optimized tables are fully transactional and can be accessed using Transact-SQL. Transact-SQL stored procedures can be compiled to machine code for further performance improvements on memory-optimized tables. The engine is designed for high concurrency and blocking is minimal.
2018-06-21
2,997 reads
Every DBA needs to appropriately manage database growth. No DBA wants an application to fail because the database is out of space. A database can run out of space a number of different ways. One of those ways is to set the MAXSIZE of a database. When the database grows to the MAXSIZE the database will not grow anymore and if someone tries to add more rows they will get an error saying the database is full.
2018-06-19
2,410 reads
By Steve Jones
If someone is trying to convince you it’s not a pyramid scheme, it’s a...
By Steve Jones
I was looking back at my year and decided to see if SQL Prompt...
In the era of cloud-native applications, Kubernetes has become the default standard platform for...
Hi experts, I have a 3+ TB database on a 2019 sql server which...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The North Star for the...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Escape Characters
In SQL Server 2025, I run this code (in a database with the appropriate collation):
SELECT UNISTR('%*3041%*308A%*304C%*3068 and good night', '%*') AS 'A Classic';
What is returned? See possible answers