ISACA Journal Article on AI
The first issue of 2024 for the ISACA Journal has been published and the articles are available both in written and on-line format. I have a regular column on...
2024-02-02
52 reads
Blog Posts
Exploring the Spark Connect gRPC API more
All Spark Connect Posts
Code
Goal of this post In this post we will continue looking at the gRPC API and the AnalyzePlan method which takes a plan and analyzes it....
2024-02-01
136 reads
SQL Server Autogrowth Settings Changes
Today, I want to discuss a topic that has been a bit of a headache for database administrators and consultants: the changes to SQL...
2024-02-01
19 reads
THAT Conference 2024–Austin
This week I attended THAT Conference in Round Rock, just outside Austin, Texas. This was my second time attending the conference, which is a very unique. The conference runs...
2024-02-01
65 reads
A Primer on Attaching Databases with PowerShell Method AttachDatabase
A Primer on Attaching Databases with PowerShell Method AttachDatabase
Attaching a SQL Server database using PowerShell can be straightforward. Here's an effective and easy approach using the...
2024-01-31 (first published: 2024-01-16)
495 reads
BI Training with Eugene Meidinger
I’ve known Eugene Meidinger (SQLGene) for a number of years and we share a lot of interests outside of technology. We’re both avid boardgame and card game players, though...
2024-01-31
71 reads
Using Spark Connect from .NET
Introductory Ramble Spark Connect In July 2022, at the Data and AI summit, Apache Spark announced “Spark Connect,” which was a way of connecting to Apache Spark using the...
2024-01-31 (first published: 2024-01-17)
389 reads
Just Buy the Keyboard
The holidays have passed and it’s a new year. You probably have a gift card or two and haven’t decided how to use it yet. Allow me to help:
Buy...
2024-01-30
45 reads
Architecting Zero Downtime Deployments at THAT Conference
Thanks to everyone that came to my talk at THAT Conference. The deck is here, if you want to download it and use it as a resource, or to...
2024-01-29
43 reads
Fabulous Stuff in Fabric – Part 3: Shortcuts
A while ago I had a little blog post series about cool stuff in Snowflake. I’m doing a similar series now, but this time for Microsoft Fabric. I’m not going...
2024-01-29 (first published: 2024-01-10)
297 reads
Blogs
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later)
By SQLPals
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later) Updated...
The flight recorder: Replaying what an AI agent did on my SQL Server
By Arun Sirpal
“What exactly did it do on my server?” is the first question a DBA...
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference — Barcelona 2026
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Forums
Let's Talk Certifications
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Let's Talk Certifications
The Hidden Security Risks of Role Combination in SSAS Tabular
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
The Empty Aggregate
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Empty Aggregate
Question of the Day
The Empty Aggregate
I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder] ( [OrderID] [int] NULL, [CustomerID] [int] NULL, [total] [money] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOWhat is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;
See possible answers