PowerShell is an ideal tool for doing health-checks of a collection of SQL Server instances, and there are several examples around, but few acknowledge the fact that individual DBAs have their own priorities for tests, and need something easily changed to suit circumstances. Omid Afzalalghom's Healthcheck allows tests to be SQL or PowerShell and requires only adding, altering or deleting files in directories.
2015-12-01
4,827 reads
Glenn Berry introduces the exciting new feature in Windows Server 2016 called Storage Spaces Direct (S2D), which enables organizations to use multiple, clustered commodity file server nodes to build highly available, scalable storage systems with local storage, using SATA, SAS, or PCIe NVMe devices.
2015-11-30
2,839 reads
Tim Wise explains how Microsoft Access provides a quick and easy way to create a simple front end for a SQL Server database by pointing linked tables to the SQL Server.
2015-11-27
2,764 reads
There are more exciting things in life than unit testing SQL Statements, checking the results, timings, and execution plans. Phil Factor demonstrates a PowerShell-based technique taking the tedium out of testing SQL DML.
2015-11-26
3,247 reads
Sandeep Mittal provides an introduction to the COALESCE function and shows how to use it.
2015-11-25
4,572 reads
Transparent Data Encryption offers the ability to encrypt content of the database, its transaction logs, as well as backups while at rest. Encryption and decryption are performed in real-time, at the individual page level, as the database is being written to and read from storage, without necessitating changes to applications accessing their data. Marcin Policht reviews the feature.
2015-11-24
4,471 reads
In SQL Server, heaps are rightly treated with suspicion. Although there are rare cases where they perform well, they are likely to be the cause of poor performance. If a table is likely to have a large number of changes, then it can become fragmented due to way that space is allocated and forward pointers used. How does one detect this problem? Is it significant? How does one deal with it, if necessary? Neeraj Tripathi explains.
2015-11-23
3,694 reads
There may be some people who enjoy repetitive typing, but Grant Fritchey doesn't. He's always preferred SQL Prompt. The standard snippets suit developers fine but aren't so DBA-oriented, so he set about asking the SQLServerCentral community what they typed in the most, and set about producing a set of DBA snippets with the results.
2015-11-20
4,144 reads
Greg Larson walks through the GUI installation process for SQL Server 2016 and explore these new installation options.
2015-11-19
4,175 reads
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
By Brian Kelley
During COVID, I attended training on software/enterprise architecture given by Mark Richards. One of...
For me, the objective is straightforward: have a backup strategy that is reliable, understandable,...
By DesertDBA
Note: This post is the invitation for T-SQL Tuesday #204 on November 3rd, 2026....
Jl. Ir. H. Juanda No.28, RT.03/RW.02, Paledang, Kecamatan Bogor Tengah, Kota Bogor, Jawa Barat...
Jl. Yos Sudarso No.155, Taba Jemekeh, Kec. Lubuk Linggau Tim. I, Kota Lubuklinggau, Sumatera...
Wa:083849450961 Jl. Sulawesi No.34, Pattunuang, Kec. Wajo, Kota Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan 90174
On SQL Server 2025, I run this code as a sysadmin:
CREATE LOGIN Demo WITH PASSWORD = 'Demo1234567' GO ALTER SERVER ROLE ##MS_DatabaseConnector## ADD MEMBER Demo GOI then login as Demo and run this:
USE sandbox go SELECT CURRENT_USERWhat is returned? See possible answers