Of the big four DML statements in SQL Server, the DELETE is the one least written about. This is odd considering the extra power conferred on the statement by the addition of the WITH common_table_expression; and the OUTPUT clause that essentially allows you to move data from one table to another in one statement.
2010-12-13
6,506 reads
Data warehousing and general reporting applications tend to be CPU intensive because they need to read and process a large number of rows. To facilitate quick data processing for queries that touch a large amount of data, Microsoft SQL Server exploits the power of multiple logical processors to provide parallel query processing operations such as parallel scans. Through extensive testing, we have learned that, for most large queries that are executed in a parallel fashion, SQL Server can deliver linear or nearly linear response time speedup as the number of logical processors increases. However, some queries in high parallelism scenarios perform suboptimally. There are also some parallelism issues that can occur in a multi-user parallel query workload. This white paper describes parallel performance problems you might encounter when you run such queries and workloads, and it explains why these issues occur. In addition, it presents how data warehouse developers can detect these issues, and how they can work around them or mitigate them.
2010-12-10
4,645 reads
Normalization is standard practice in database design, however, an over-normalized database can have issues. This article examines the case for denormalization.
2010-12-09
4,755 reads
I noticed a new feature in SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services that allows you to render maps in your reports. Can you provide some details on this new feature and can I take advantage of it even though don't have any spatial columns in my data warehouse?
2010-12-08
4,723 reads
Crunching data or having access to vast amounts of data is crucial for many applications.
2010-12-07
2,143 reads
I have installed and uninstalled several instances of SQL Server in the past. Today, I need to uninstall a SQL Server 2008 R2 clustered instance. I have never uninstalled a clustered instance of SQL Server before. Can you provide a how-to guide to uninstall a clustered instance of SQL Server 2008 R2?
2010-12-06
3,572 reads
A data mart provides the primary access to the data stored in the data warehouse or operational data store. It is a subset of data sourced from the data warehouse or operational data store specifically focused on a business function or set of related business functions. Read on to learn the answers to fundamental questions about data marts.
2010-12-03
5,164 reads
I have audited for permissions on my databases because users seem to be accessing the tables, but I don't see permissions which give them such rights. I've gone through every Windows group that has access to my SQL Server and into the database, but with no success. How are the users accessing these tables?
2010-12-02
2,606 reads
When working with Script Task of SQL Server 2008 Integration Services, it is important to ensure that your custom code complies with the most elementary programming practices. Learn how to handle unexpected errors that interfere with the successful execution of your code.
2010-12-01
3,288 reads
sp_locks is a useful tool which can help a DBA in detecting and troubleshooting blocking and concurrency scenarios. This article demonstrates a worked example of using sp_locks to troubleshoot a database concurrency issue.
2010-11-30
3,539 reads
By Brian Kelley
There's a great article from MIT Technology Review about resetting on the hype of...
By Steve Jones
etherness – n. the wistful feeling of looking around a gathering of loved ones,...
By Steve Jones
A customer was asking about tracking logins and logouts in Redgate Monitor. We don’t...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Microsoft SQL Year in...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL in SQL Server 2025:...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Your Value from a Conference
What does this code return in SQL Server 2025+? (assume the database has an appropriate collation)
SELECT UNISTR('Hello 4E16754C') AS 'A Classic';
A: 
B: 
See possible answers