T-SQL Window Functions – Part 2: Ranking Functions

This is a reprint with some revisions of a series I originally published on LessThanDot. You can find the links...

Why Is your datetime saved as a bigint anyway?

Yet another issue I had never seen before - thankfully this time I was able to find a relatively quick answer.

On...

Worst Day As A DBA

I remember the day pretty vividly, it was in the summer months and I was as green as green can...

“A good DBA is a lazy DBA”

I’m borrowing from Andy Leonard (blog | twitter) who says all the time, “Good engineers are lazy.”
If you’re thinking, “Why would I want (to...

5 Things to Know About Indexes for SQL Server

One of the first questions I got while interviewing for a potential position as a DBA was “If there is...

Clustered Columnstore Indexes – part 32 (“Size Does Matter, but how ?”)

Continuation from the previous 31 parts, starting from http://www.nikoport.com/2013/07/05/clustered-columnstore-indexes-part-1-intro/

The Columnstore Row Group Size Question:
What is better for SQL Server performance:...

Dealing with a long string

Every now and again you have to put a really long string (more than 8000 characters). Dynamic SQL is the...

Final Summer Precon for Me – Portland Maine

This coming weekend is the SQL Saturday #293 in Portland, Maine with my precon on Friday. I am really looking forward to attending...

I am speaking at the PASS Summit 2014

I am super excited to announce that I have been selected to speak at the 2014 PASS Summit. This is...

PASS Summit 2014 – I’m speaking!

On June 25, 2012, I set a goalfor myself.  It was this:
In the next 3 years, I want to present...