Alter Multiple Databases at Once
This is a quick and dirty method I often use when I want to make a change to multiple databases...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-06-26)
2,497 reads
Matthew McGiffen
- Twitter: @MattMcGiffen
- Website: https://matthewmcgiffen.com/
Auditing Data Access in SQL Server for GDPR Compliance
In relation to the GDPR, I’ve recently been looking at the tools available within SQL Server to support auditing our...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-09-26)
5,760 reads
Automatic Sample Sizes for Statistics Updates
I mentioned in my previous post about manually updating statistics that you can specify whether they’re updated using a full...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-08-15)
1,477 reads
Avoid “Constants” in T-SQL
Unlike some other languages, T-SQL doesn’t have the concept of a constant.
As good coders, we’ve all at some point tried...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-10-10)
3,656 reads
Capture the most expensive queries across your SQL Server using Query Store
I’m a big fan of using queries based on the dynamic management view sys.dm_exec_query_stats to capture the most resource hungry...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-11-01)
5,004 reads
Checking for Membership of a Specific Active Directory Group
As part of my job I manage a bunch of SQL instances for Development and Test.
Access is managed though Active...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-10-02)
2,313 reads
Database Files Down The Wrong Path
I manage a few servers used to host SQL Instances for development and test purposes. Each of those instances hosts...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-04-24)
2,935 reads
Don’t Just Rely on Query Execution Stats for T-SQL Execution
I recently had an incident where I was looking into the cause of a long running process for a client....
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-09-18)
2,092 reads
Exporting Extended Events Session Data to a Table
If you’re a long time Profiler user like me then you probably often take the option of saving (or loading)...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-08-08)
2,215 reads
Extended Events Made Easy – Sorting, Grouping and Aggregation
When I’m using Profiler to analyse performance issues I often save the results to a table, or upload a trace...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-10-16)
2,117 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