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Automating Image-Based Deployment of SQL Server on Azure IaaS VMs - Preparing OS Image

There are several different approaches to automating deployment of SQL Server Infrastructure-as-a-Service virtual machines in Microsoft Azure. Marcin Policht examines an approach that involves uploading or creating a custom operating system image which is well suited for scenarios where you want to deploy a custom-configured SQL Server instance to multiple virtual machines with minimal effort and maximum consistency.

2015-04-21

7,452 reads

External Article

How to Get SQL Server Data Conversion Horribly Wrong

One of the most certain ways of going wrong with any relational database is to get data conversion wrong. Implicit data conversion is a good feature for the expert but can cause a lot of trouble to the unwary. These boil down to seven ways of failing to get data conversion right. Rob Sheldon explains and gives sage advice on how to avoid the problems.

2015-04-20

7,337 reads

External Article

How DBAs Can Adopt the Craftsman Mindset

The job of a DBA requires a fusion of skill and knowledge. To acquire this requires a craftsman mindset. Craftsmen find that the better they get at the work, the more enjoyable the work gets, and the more successful they become. Deliberate practice, Specialization and an appetite for overcoming difficulty are good habits to deliberately adopt to successfully grow those craftsmanlike skills to the point that you become “so good they can’t ignore you”.

2015-04-17

9,586 reads

External Article

Selecting Data Using the TOP Clause

There are times when you don’t what to return a complete set of records. When you have this kind of requirement to only select the TOP X number of items Transact SQL (TSQL) has the TOP clause to meet your needs. In this article Greg Larsen explores how to select a subset of data from a record set.

2015-04-16

9,580 reads

External Article

SQL Server Spatial Indexes

Spatial Data in SQL Server has special indexing because it has to perform specialised functions. It is able, for example, to break down an indexed space into a grid hierarchy by using a technique called tessellation. This is a rules-based system that, when you compare a shape to an index, works out how many cells in the the grid hierarchy are touched by that shape , and how deep down the grid hierarchy to search. There is powerful magic in Spatial Indexes as Surenda and Roy explain.

2015-04-15

7,242 reads

External Article

Never Ignore a Sort Warning in SQL Server

It is always bad news if your SQL queries are having to use the SORT operator. It is worse news if you get a warning that sort operations are spilling onto TempDB. If you have a busy, slow TempDB, then the effect on performance can be awful. You should check your query plans to try to eliminate SORTs and never leave a SORT warning unheeded. Fabiano Amorim shows the range of ways of getting information on what is going on with a query that is doing a SORT and when requests are made for memory.

2015-04-13

8,822 reads

External Article

The Internet of Things: A New World Order?

Was the marketing hook 'The Internet of Things' conjured up before the technical definition? Are we being persuaded to spend money on fending off yet another fantasy tsunami of data? Already, we have televisions that listen to, and report, your conversations; so are we facing the Science Fiction future of gadgets that report where you go, who you visit and what medications you take? As Robert Sheldon says; "It's big, almost too big to get your arms around".

2015-04-10

11,037 reads

External Article

Painless Refactoring of SQL Server Database Objects

Refactoring a database object can often cause unexpected behavior in the code that accesses that object. In this article, adapted from his excellent book, Defensive Database Programming with SQL Server, Alex Kuznetsov discusses several techniques that will harden your code, so that it will not break, or behave unpredictably, as a result such changes.

2015-04-08

11,414 reads

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Question of the Day

The Long Name

I run this code to create a table:Create table with unicode nameWhen I check the length, I get these results:Table with length of name shown as 132 charactersA table name is limited to 128 characters. How does this work?

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