Installing SQL Server 2016
Greg Larson walks through the GUI installation process for SQL Server 2016 and explore these new installation options.
2015-11-19
4,175 reads
Additional Articles
Is SQL Server killing your application’s performance?
When an application suffers from performance problems, it’s common to assume the database is at fault. Ben Emmett examines why this often isn’t the case, and shows how you can dig into a .NET application’s use of SQL Server.
2015-11-18
4,405 reads
Questions About CUBE, ROLLUP and GROUPING SETs That You Were Too Shy to Ask
There are few parts of SQL Syntax as familiar as the GROUP BY clause of the SELECT statement. On the other hand, CUBE and ROLLUP remain mysterious despite their usefulness and GROUPING SET is positively arcane, especially if you are too shy to reveal your ignorance of the subject by asking! William Brewer saves you the hassle.
2015-11-17
4,187 reads
Hash Joins on Nullable Columns
Paul White explores some less well-known query optimizer features and limitations, and explains the reasons for extremely poor hash join performance in a specific case.
2015-11-16
3,593 reads
Capture Execution Plan Warnings using Extended Events
Erin Stellato of SQLskills shows how to use Extended Events to monitor for query plans with certain characteristics, such as joins missing predicates, columns missing statistics, and unmatched filtered indexes.
2015-11-13
2,571 reads
Automating Your SQL Server Best Practice Reports: The Document
If you're making a report from table-based data, an MS Word document is often a good option. In the second part of his introduction to SQL Server best-practice monitoring, Laerte Junior shows how to use PowerShell scripts to create a Word-based report with colour-coded alerts where there are problems or best practices aren't being followed.
2015-11-12
8,610 reads
Extended Statistics and Oracle 12c
David Fitzjarrell looks at how and why to use a feature called Automatic Column Group Detection to recognize column dependencies and create extended statistics on recognized groups in Oracle 12.1.0.2.
2015-11-11
3,177 reads
Introduction to PolyBase in SQL Server 2016 - Part 1
One of the features introduced in SQL Server 2016 is PolyBase. The goal of PolyBase is to make interacting with unstructured, semi-structured and non-relational data stored in Hadoop as easy as writing Transact-SQL statements. Edwin Sarmiento explains.
2015-11-10
3,022 reads
Implementing Continuous Integration for Databases
Continuous integration (CI) is becoming more and more common in application development. It ensures code and related resources are integrated regularly and tested by an automated build system, and highlights problems early in the development process. But what about database development? Can the same advantages of CI be applied to production databases? Where do you start? How do you tackle it? Sjors Takes relates his experience.
2015-11-09
2,651 reads
How to Create Ten 200GB Test Databases in 60 Seconds
In a recent survey run SQL Server Central, 58% of respondents admitted that their test database is an exact copy of their production database. Many of these respondents concede that they should be removing sensitive data, but aren’t. It seems that the desire to have realistic data will, for many, trump the requirement to keep sensitive data out of development and test environments. In this blog post, Redgate's Jason Crease introduces the new 'SQL Instant Clone' and explains how it could help.
2015-11-06
4,497 reads
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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?
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