PASS – Meanderings
As most people reading this would know…the PASS organization is in a state of crisis now following the decision to go virtual. We are in a place where we...
2020-07-03 (first published: 2020-06-20)
193 reads
Mala Mahadevan
Being seen and why PASS helped
One of my colleagues/friends read my earlier blog post on the future of PASS and said he was not aware that being seen as a minority person was among...
2020-06-22
8 reads
Deleting packages from SSIS Catalog
I was fortunate to attend a training on SSIS by my good friend and SSIS expert Andy Leonard(b|t). We already use the tool for ETL purposes where I work...
2020-05-18 (first published: 2020-05-04)
965 reads
Learning Postgres:Installation
I had the opportunity of working on a project converting a postgres database to a sql server based one at work. I used this opportunity to learn more of...
2020-04-13 (first published: 2020-04-06)
320 reads
Telecommute Resources
This is a summary of potential resources for any tech person who is interested in working from home – temporarily or full time. It came about from a twitter...
2020-03-18 (first published: 2020-03-09)
457 reads
T-SQL Tuesday 123: Life Hacks to make your day easier
This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by Jess Pomfret. Jess’s theme is ‘Life Hacks to make your day easier’. She talks of some things we do to make life...
2020-02-17 (first published: 2020-02-11)
813 reads
T-SQL Tuesday #122: Being authentic
This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by Jon Shaulis – the topic is an evergreen one, dealing with Imposter Syndrome. I learned of this word via Mindy Curnett a.k.a...
2020-01-15
13 reads
Epic Life Quest – 2020 Update
I started keeping a written record on bigger goals in life from the year 2018 – following the example set by Steve Jones and Brent Ozar. This method of...
2020-01-06
20 reads
T-SQL Tuesday 121 – Gifts received – Summary
I got several responses for the last T-SQL Tuesday of the year that am honored to host. My topic was to blog on whatever you considered to be a...
2019-12-27 (first published: 2019-12-12)
314 reads
Querying database schema using graph tables
SQL Server 2017 introduced the concept of graph data tables as part of the SQL Server database engine. With SQL Server 2019, there were some enhancements like ‘shortest path’ function and constraints on edge tables that make this feature more usable – although it is far from a full-fledged graph database. Graph tables are essentially […]
2019-12-23
15,415 reads
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