SQL ConstantCare® Population Report: Fall 2025
In this quarter’s update of our SQL ConstantCare® population report, showing how quickly (or slowly) folks adopt new versions of SQL Server, the data is very similar to last quarter
2025-11-17
Additional Articles
IoT Meets OLTP: How to Handle Backfilling Challenges in Real-Time Systems
This is the true story of a 64-core SQL Server brought down by poor assumptions about its data. A clustered index designed for neat, sequential IoT inserts was overwhelmed when the real readings arrived late, out of order, and in bulk. The same risk lurks in any high-write system with unpredictable insert patterns. This article shows what can go wrong and how to avoid it.
2025-11-14
JSON_CONTAINS Function in SQL Server 2025
I have data coming into my SQL Server database as JSON. Before I start parsing it which is quite intensive, I need to check if some values are present in the JSON. Is there a function I can use to do this? Let’s see what the new JSON_CONTAINS function in SQL Server 2025 can do.
2025-11-12
Unlocking the Power of FULL OUTER JOIN in SQL: Performance, Use Cases & Examples
Discover how the FULL OUTER JOIN in SQL can simplify queries, improve performance, and solve real-world data problems
2025-11-10
SQL Server CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY Helpful Examples
Microsoft introduced the APPLY operator in SQL Server 2005. Similar to a JOIN, it allows correlation between two table expressions. The key difference between the JOIN and APPLY operators is when you have a table-valued expression on the right side and want to evaluate it for each row from the left table expression. Since they produce similar results, when do you choose an APPLY versus a JOIN?
2025-11-07
Power BI TMDL View: Benefits, Security Risks & Best Practices
The Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL) provides a simpler way of defining Power BI Semantic Models. Unlike the JSON-based Tabular Model Scripting Language (TMSL), TMDL uses a more accessible tab-based format for specifying DAX measures, relationships, and Power Query code.
2025-11-05
Which Should You Use: VARCHAR or NVARCHAR?
You’re building a new table or adding a column, and you wanna know which datatype to use: VARCHAR or NVARCHAR?
2025-11-03
Static Versus Dynamic Bulk Insert Imports of Multi-File Datasets
There are numerous use cases for multi-file imports of CSV files into a SQL Server table:
2025-10-31
2025-10-29
Managing Underused Indexes in SQL Server Availability Groups – Part 2
Knowing the usage from all workloads is definitely better than focusing on only the primary or a single secondary. But what if I want to make more informed decisions, incorporating row counts, size, and index columns into this output?
2025-10-27
Blogs
How to Find Expensive Queries in Amazon Redshift
Slow-running queries can degrade your Redshift cluster’s performance and lead to increased costs. Identifying...
The Notification Trap: How Input Fatigue Is Killing Deep Work in Tech
By gbargsley
If you've been here before, you know this blog is usually about SQL Server,...
Designing a Storage Load Test for SQL Server
I’ve been doing storage load tests for SQL Server for a long time, both...
Forums
Make your moments memorable with Fildena 200mg
Make your moments memorable with Fildena 200mg, a high-strength option designed to support men...
How Long is a Long I/O?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How Long is a Long...
T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL...
Question of the Day
How Long is a Long I/O?
In SQL Server 2025, a long I/O is recorded in the error log with message 833. How long much an I/O request be outstanding before this message is written to the log?
See possible answers