If you need to receive and process a large volume of of packets of data, such as telemetry, or event-log items, it may be worth considering Azure Event hubs. They aren't like traditional messaging but represent more of a stripped down one-way event processing system for large volumes of data. It could represent a good solution to an ever-present problem, but is it ready for production use? Rob Sheldon investigates.
2015-07-22
3,382 reads
Inadequate storage is one of the most common bottlenecks seen in subsystem performance. There are a number of reasons for poor storage performance, but measuring it and understanding what needs to be measured and monitored is always a useful exercise.
2015-07-21
5,049 reads
In this article, Daniel Farina shows how to speed up SSIS package execution by using the Balanced Data Distributor Transformation.
2015-07-20
3,389 reads
The Microsoft Azure platform is evolving fast. Azure SQL Database is riding high on the cloud wave with new features enabled at a fast pace. In this article, Kun Cheng shares a few Azure SQL Database security features that could help developers and DBAs develop and manage a secure SQL Database solution.
2015-07-17
5,994 reads
The Microsoft SQL Server product group are evaluating how to better assist with your SQL Server upgrades. With the upcoming SQL Server 2005 extended support deadline fast approaching, they want to understand how to help you migrate to a modern, supported version of SQL Server, and how to provide support and upgrades in future.
2015-07-17
5,452 reads
By reading performance counters from services such as SQL Server or Exchange, you can get a wealth of performance information. By automating the process of gathering and storing appropriate counters, you can routinely check a range of devices quickly using visual tools such as PerfMon. By then creating your own counters, you can add counter-based metrics to anything that can be measured programmatically, such as services, applications, processes such as ETL, or deployments. Nicolas Prigent shows you how.
2015-07-16
3,880 reads
SQL Server 2016 introduces a new security feature called Dynamic Data Masking (DDM). This tip describes its purpose, shows a brief example of how it works, lists some limitations, and notes how the feature has already changed since CTP 2.0 was first released in May.
2015-07-15
2,728 reads
NULLs in SQL are a mixed blessing. The Three-Valued Logic of SQL has its uses but can cause difficulties to anyone who assumes that NULL has a 'value'. It can make reports go horribly wrong in a number of alarming ways, as Robert Sheldon explains.
2015-07-14
8,842 reads
With another entry in his knee-jerk series on wait statistics, Paul Randal (@PaulRandal) explains CXPACKET and why it may or may not be a problem.
2015-07-13
3,180 reads
Aaron Bertrand compares multiple date formatting techniques, demonstrating again that SQL Server's FORMAT() is not worth the convenience.
2015-07-10
5,834 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....
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The ##MS_DatabaseConnector## User
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Planning for Change
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Importing Excel files into SQL...
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