Additional Articles


External Article

SQL Server SQLCMD Basics

Sqlcmd makes many SQL Server tasks, such as automating test runs and maintenance tasks, easier and quicker. The sqlcmd command-line utility is valuable to any database developer or DBA as the prime means of executing batches of SQL Statements to SQL servers, and saving results to file. Rob Sheldon gives you the basic facts about this great utility.

2013-11-08

6,993 reads

Technical Article

Building Real-World Microsoft BI Dashboards Today

There is a lot of Microsoft buzz about Power BI and Excel these days, but customers need real-world, professional business intelligence solutions that meet their complex real-world requirements today. In this article, Jen Underwood shares what technologies were used to develop a dashboard solution for a Fortune Global 500 company using Microsoft Business Intelligence technologies, and why. Some of the decisions may surprise you and the lessons learned are sure to be of value.

2013-11-07

5,745 reads

External Article

Getting Started with Columnstored Index in SQL Server 2014 – Part 2

Column Store Index, which improves performance of data warehouse queries several folds, was first introduced in SQL Server 2012. Though it had several limitations, now SQL Server 2014 enhances the columnstore index and overcomes several of the earlier limitations. In this article, Arshad Ali discusses how you can get started using the enhanced columnstore index feature in SQL Server 2014 and do some performance tests.

2013-11-06

4,375 reads

External Article

Fundamentals of Vendor Management

Creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with external vendors is one of the pillars of good project management. Dwain Camps goes through what to expect and allow in your client-vendor relationship during the various stages of a given project to ensure its success and secure that all important win-win outcome.

2013-11-04

2,844 reads

External Article

Tuning Distributed Applications to Access Big Data

Distributed applications are just that: distributed across one or more hardware platforms across the enterprise. The database administrator (DBA) has the unenviable task of monitoring these environments and configuring and tuning the database server to meet multiple needs. As multiple distributed applications now require access to a very large data store, what tuning options are available to help?

2013-10-31

3,024 reads

External Article

The ETL from Hell - Diagnosing Batch System Performance Issues

Too often, the batch systems that underlie a lot of database processing just grow without conscious design. When runs start to extend beyond their allotted time, and tuning no longer solves the problem, it is often discovered that batches are run in series, with draconian error handling. It is time to impose some rational design, and Nigel is a seasoned healer of batch processes.

2013-10-30

3,753 reads

Blogs

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Multiple Deployment Processes

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases

By Kunal Rathi

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Upgrading Admin Queries

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries

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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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