Why your PL/SQL needs to be testable – and how to do it: Part 1
Part 1: What is testable code, why is it important, and first glimpses on practices that can help
2022-04-27
Additional Articles
The 10 Benefits of Monitoring for Leaders
A third-party database monitoring tool is an investment that drives enormous value for the bottom line of a business in ten key ways, from simplifying cloud migration to retaining talent. Here's how.
2022-04-25
Understanding SQL Server Linked Servers
In this tip we look at how to setup a Linked Server in SQL Server using SQL Server Management Studio.
2022-04-25
Getting an Overview of Changes to a PostgreSQL Database using Flyway
How to use Flyway and PowerShell to automatically generate a database build script every time Flyway successfully created a new version. You can then investigate schema changes between versions simply by using a Diff tool to compare build scripts.
2022-04-22
Site Reliability Engineering vs. DevOps
What’s the difference between Site Reliability Engineering and DevOps? In this article, Grant Fritchey defines each one and compares them.
2022-04-22
CASE STUDY: The hybrid monitoring needs of a fast-growing global business
With ambitious expansion plans, PointsBet needed an expansive overview of its server estate, whether on Azure or on-premises, anywhere around the world. Find out how SQL Monitor rose to the challenge.
2022-04-20
How to get length of Text, NText and Image columns in SQL Server
There is sometimes a need to figure out the maximum space that is being used by a particular column in your database. You would initially think that the LEN() function would allow you to do this, but this function does not work on Text, NText or Image data types, so how do you figure out the length of a value in a column that has one of these data types?
2022-04-20
SQL Server Graph Tables – Cross Database Surprises
Louis Davidson explains how to get around an interesting issue when doing cross-database queries involving graph database tables.
2022-04-18
Webinar | Kick start your DevOps Initiative
Without someone on your team experienced at putting DevOps into practice, it can be difficult to know how to get started. Join Microsoft Data Platform MVP, and AWS Community Builder Grant Fritchey to discover his top tips on how to kick start DevOps in your organization.
2022-04-18
Flyway Gotchas
Explaining some of the 'gotchas' that can trip up the unwary Flyway user, and how to avoid them. One or two of these you'll encounter quickly, such as the case-sensitivity of parameters and arguments. Others, such as potential problems with undo scripts or running scripted callbacks, only when you are tackling more complex development processes.
2022-04-15
Blogs
Microsoft announces new cybersecurity AI multi-model
By Brian Kelley
Yesterday, July 27, 2026, Microsoft announced a new cybersecurity effort called Project Perception. Included...
Getting the SQL Server MCP Server Running
By Steve Jones
If you’ve wanted a SQL Server MCP server for your databases, it’s available. The...
Introducing azsql-migration-test: Test and Validate Azure SQL Database Migrations
Introducing azsql-migration-test, a small open-source CLI that validates your Azure SQL Database migrations against...
Forums
Symmetric Key Encryption
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The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why Your Login Auditing Strategy Might Be Hurting Your Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why...
Building Your Own Software
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Your Own Software
Question of the Day
Symmetric Key Encryption
If I run this statement in SQL Server 2025, how is the password encrypted?
CREATE SYMMETRIC KEY MySymmetricKey WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256, KEY_SOURCE = 'My secret key source passphrase', IDENTITY_VALUE = 'My secret identity value' ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'S&perS#cretP@ssword7'; GOSee possible answers