Policy Based Management and Powershell
Introduction
Policy Based Management (PBM) can be used to inform DBAs when an incorrect setting is being used on a SQL...
2017-10-04 (first published: 2017-09-26)
2,001 reads
TempDB Multiple Datafiles
Problem
Most DBAs are aware that (prior to SQL 2016) one of the most common, post installation changes that needs to...
2017-03-28 (first published: 2017-03-14)
5,978 reads
SQL Agent Permissions
Problem
I was contacted by a user asking if it was possible for his team to be able to execute specific...
2016-12-21
2,569 reads
Linked Server Security
Problem
When creating Linked Servers, security often gets overlooked. This can lead to accounts on one instance having access, sometimes with...
2016-11-11
22,292 reads
Restore through FULL backup
Problem
A common misconception that i've heard a few times around backups is that a FULL backup invalidates previous TRANSACTION LOG...
2016-10-04
290 reads
Using Logins and Certificates to evelate Permissions
Problem
A common question I get asked by SQL developers is to be able to query the sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats table to see...
2016-09-16
1,044 reads
Tempdb monitoring - Free space alert
SQL Server uses tempdb for many features, including row versioning, service broker and query execution amongst others. During the execution...
2016-07-07
3,828 reads
Recertifying SQL Server 2012 MCSE with Microsoft Virtual Academy
Do people still get certified? I don’t hear much about it in the SQL community these days so I asked...
2016-02-04
489 reads
Backup Database
One of the most important processes for a DBA is backing up and restoring a database. In its simplest form,...
2015-10-07
235 reads
TDE and Availability Groups
Caution must be exercised when mixing Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and Availability Groups to ensure databases don't end up in...
2015-10-07
669 reads
Blogs
Don’t Miss Out – SQL Server Query Tuning Fundamentals Starts Next Monday!
Next Monday, February 9, 2026, my one-day live online training SQL Server Query Tuning...
Monday Monitor Tips: SQL Auditing Preview
By Steve Jones
One of the features we advocates have been advocating for is a better way...
SQL Server 2025 CU1 Fixes the Docker Desktop AVX Issue on macOS
Microsoft fixed the AVX instruction issue in SQL Server 2025 CU1. The container now...
Forums
25 Years of SQL Server Central
Comments posted to this topic are about the item 25 Years of SQL Server...
The Decoded Value
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Decoded Value
Deploying SQL Server Developer Edition in Kubernetes: A Cost-Effective Alternative to RDS
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Deploying SQL Server Developer Edition...
Question of the Day
The Decoded Value
In SQL Server 2025, what is returned from this code:
DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!'; DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX); SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(CAST(@message AS VARBINARY(1000))); SELECT BASE64_DECODE(@encoded)See possible answers