Executing One Line in VSCode–#SQLNewBlogger
I wrote about arrays in PowerShell last week, but I realized one of the things I did while experimenting was look up how to run code a line at...
2023-12-22 (first published: 2023-12-11)
344 reads
Blog Posts
Friday Flyway Tips–Above Target Migrations
Recently I was working with Flyway Desktop (FWD) and practicing deploying certain migrations and not others. I don’t recommend this, but a customer was doing this and I wanted...
2023-12-22
17 reads
How to Test Trace Flag 3625
Recently, one of my customers considered enabling Trace Flag 3625 on one of their SQL Servers, but they wanted a way to quickly test its functionality beforehand. For those...
2023-12-22 (first published: 2023-12-12)
526 reads
Extended Events in Azure Data Studio
I know I can use extended events (xevents) in Azure SQL DB when in SSMS, but I wanted to learn how to use them in Azure Data Studio (ADS)....
2023-12-20 (first published: 2023-11-30)
332 reads
You should be running on SQL Server 2022
It’s me again with my apparently semi-annual blog post. This time we’re going to talk about which version of SQL Server you should be on, now that we’re at...
2023-12-20 (first published: 2023-12-05)
664 reads
Hello Microsoft Entra ID, good bye Azure Active Directory
A couple of months ago where I work, a major product started undergoing a rebrand. I don’t pretend to understand marketing folks, but a change this big needed to...
2023-12-19
464 reads
Last Weeks Reading (2023-12-17)
📰 News What happened in the DAX world in 2022 New DAX functions… in 2022 The Microsoft Learn Cloud Skills Challenge Microsoft Ignite edition is back! How to build...
2023-12-18
39 reads
Microsoft Fabric – the great unifier
I’m seeing a lot of excitement from customers over Microsoft Fabric, now that it GA’d a few weeks ago. One thing that is generating a lot of that excitement...
2023-12-18 (first published: 2023-12-12)
682 reads
Set-Based vs Row-Based Database Code
In SQL Server, the terms “set-based” and “row-based” refer to different approaches or styles of writing SQL code to manipulate data. These styles have implications for performance, readability, and...
2023-12-18 (first published: 2023-12-01)
611 reads
A New Word: Nementia
nementia – n. the post-distraction effort to recall the reason you’re feeling particularly anxious or angry or excited, trying to retrace your sequence of thoughts like a kid gathering...
2023-12-15
52 reads
Blogs
Microsoft Fabric OneLake Shortcuts: When to Use Them and When Not To
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
SQL Server Security Hardening Guide Using the DoD STIG Checklist
Security on your SQL Server is important. That doesn’t need any explaining. But where...
EightKB 2026: Registration is Open!
It’s that time of year again! EightKB is back on August 20th at 13:00...
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Backing Up a DMK
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BIT_COUNT in SQL Server
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Question of the Day
Backing Up a DMK
In SQL Server 2025, I have a database with a Database Masker Key (DMK). I want to back up this key and keep a copy offline. When do I have to open this key before running the backup?
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