Matt

Matt Bowler is a DBA at Trade Me, and teaches database design and administration courses at the local institute of technology. A recent but avid discoverer of SQL Server, Matt is a regular contributor to forums at MSDN, Experts Exchange and SSC and he blogs at mattsql.wordpress.com.

Quick tip: WMI alerts and SQL Server Agent permissions.

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

I came across an issue today while trying to create a WMI alert for a mirroring state change. The error...

2013-08-15

1,587 reads

In Memory OLTP with SQL Server 2014

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

SQL Server 2014 CTP is available for download and evaluation and it contains a couple of exciting performance enhancements. One...

2013-07-08

2,533 reads

Wildcards and Indexes

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

I was asked a good question the other day, one that I wasn’t sure of the answer. The question was...

2013-05-22

1,595 reads

Quick tip: Using sp_server_diagnostics

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

In SQL Server 2012 a new procedure sp_server_diagnostics returns a payload of information about server health and performance. The sproc...

2013-04-11 (first published: 2013-04-03)

4,055 reads

SQL Server 2008 Statistics: What does a DBA need to know?

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

I’ve been looking into the behaviour of statistics in SQL Server 2008 – so I’d like to present an overview from...

2013-02-20 (first published: 2013-02-14)

7,081 reads

Restore database permissions

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

Introduction:
I came across a couple of subtle gotchas around the permissions required to restore a database in SQL Server 2008+...

2013-01-10

6,111 reads

Migrating SQL Server Databases that use Database Master Keys

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

There’s a lot of things to consider when migrating databases between SQL Server instances. I want to provide some tips...

2012-11-26 (first published: 2012-11-13)

4,339 reads

Don’t believe everything you read: Truncate table is not logged

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

Actually I’m not sure if anyone still believes this anymore. If you read the BOL description carefully it states that...

2012-11-02 (first published: 2012-10-31)

4,423 reads

Discuss

Quick tip: Count table rows in a database, and locate those rows in the data files.

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

Here are a couple of quick database and table level queries that I have found useful lately.
How many rows in...

2012-10-30

1,617 reads

Querying database usage

by Matt

Ctrl-alt-geek

A question that a DBA will often be asked is what databases are actively being used on my SQL Server?...

2012-10-17

3,322 reads

Blogs

Flyway Tips: Automation Assistance in Flyway Desktop

I was chatting with the product managers at Flyway and one asked me whether...

The Benefits of Teaching

By Brian Kelley

Even preparing for a class or seminar with set materials takes a lot of...

Power BI, Excel, OneLake – Dreams Do Come True!

By DataOnWheels

I can’t believe it’s finally here! A way to have Excel live in OneDrive...

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Forums

Help! MEMORY_ALLOCATION_EXT wait stalls

Hi I have an overnight process that moves allot of claims records Been working...

Unlocking Data Transformation: My journey with dbt (Data Build Tool) on SQL Server

By ashok.gadiparthi

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Unlocking Data Transformation: My journey...

Putting the Player with the Number

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Putting the Player with the...

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Question of the Day

Putting the Player with the Number

In SQL Server 2025, what does this return?

DECLARE @player varchar(20) = 'Bo Nix',
@num VARCHAR = '10'

SELECT @player || @num

See possible answers