IF RDBMS = SQL Server, NoSQL = ???
SQL Server is, arguably, the leading relational database management system out there. With continuous development and enhancement of exciting features...
2017-11-08
453 reads
DBA Resolutions
It’s said that “promises are made to be broken”. Surely database administrators don’t fall in that category? It’s that time...
2016-12-28
686 reads
SQL Server on Linux, first observations.
Is this one of those weird food combinations like honey on pizza or salt and pepper on apples that’s going...
2016-11-22
575 reads
“Witch” Statistics?
Three men are in a hot-air balloon. Soon, they find themselves lost in a canyon somewhere. One of the three...
2016-09-20
402 reads
SQL Server, a true Olympian
Suffering SQL Server Performance Issues?: A story of Olympic sprints and handy SQL Server hints!!!
Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest runner,...
2016-08-18
379 reads
SQL 2012 Identity Columns Feature
Recently, a customer mentioned that they seemed to be missing records in tables they don’t delete from. Generally, at this...
2016-02-25
1,440 reads
Freaky statistics feature
SQL Server statistics can make things a bit freaky. You might have read one of my previous articles portraying a...
2015-10-30
1,543 reads
SSMS 2016 – Compare Execution Plans
Microsoft are releasing regular CTP updates for SQL Server 2016. In the very recent release (CTP 2.4), there is a...
2015-10-20 (first published: 2015-10-16)
3,544 reads
No thrills about spills
Statistics, in simplest terms, refer to the distribution of data in a column or index. They are represented in a...
2015-09-21
765 reads
Work of art – the intra query parallelism deadlock graphs
Look at some of the graphs produced by the intra query parallelism deadlocks, below.
Bart Duncan explains this “phenomenon” (bug, rather)...
2015-09-10
1,368 reads
Blogs
PowerPoint to HTML with Claude AI
By Steve Jones
I had an idea for an animated view of a sales tool, and started...
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...
Forums
Delta Lake: The Definitive Guide: Modern Data Lakehouse Architectures with Data Lakes
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Delta Lake: The Definitive Guide:...
Databricks Data Intelligence Platform: Unlocking the GenAI Revolution
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Databricks Data Intelligence Platform: Unlocking...
Storytelling with Data: Let's Practice!
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Storytelling with Data: Let's Practice!
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