Escape from ETL Hell

What often starts out as a simple, quick process, gradually expands over time, as developers use SQL Agent to schedule new data feeds, add more complex transformations...

TribalSQL: 15 New Voices in SQL Server

MidnightDBA and Red Gate have joined together to produce a new book on SQL Server, written by 15 first-time authors. The resulting book, TribalSQL, includes everything you should know about SQL Server that isn’t taught in traditional training, they call it Tribal knowledge.

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Great DBAs do <blank>

We know a lot about how great exponents of the DBA profession work, but the role is changing rapidly. What makes a great Data Scientist? Or a great BI specialist?

BACPACs be gone: Managing real backups in Azure

While backup to the Cloud may be useful in terms of optimizing storage across the enterprise, for DBAs it remains essential that they retain fast, easy, access to the backup files. Azure Explorer is a free tool that might help.

Deploying Databases to the Azure Cloud: an extended plea

Is there a sound technical reason why SQL Azure can't support extended properties?

Are Triggers a "Legacy" Feature?

It is late evening. Something is wrong with a database. You narrow down the possibilities, getting more frustrated and puzzled. Stay calm. Check the inputs systematically. No! The data going into that table is right, but when you then read it in the table, it's wrong. Why did I stop believing in the supernatural? Then it hits you. Every time it comes as a surprise. They're using triggers. (This editorial was originally published on Nov 10, 2008)

DBA Hypochondria

It is easy to become overwhelmed by server symptoms (aka metrics), in the forlorn hope that the more we collect, the clearer a picture we'll assemble of what ails the server. We should, of course, be looking at the whole patient.

Password Insecurities

Tony Davis argues that the Standards and best practices exist to avoid being hacked, but implementing them requires time and investment and often there simply doesn't seem to be the will to do it.

Fragmentation Fear

Index fragmentation can certainly cause performance problems, but should it really dictate the way we design our clustered indexes?

Replace existing Database? JFDI!

Tony Davis argues that the WITH REPLACE option of the RESTORE DATABASE command is a case where the naming of the option masks its true "JFDI" nature…