Unleashing my inner Viking, SQLBits and more…

In case you didn't know SQLBits 9 ,”Query across the Mersey”, is taking place in Liverpool from September 21st to...

Computed Columns and UDFs

I wrote about the basics of computed columns and also using CASE in a computed column recently, but there’s a...

Datawarehouse Trends – In-memory

What does the emergence and growth of In-memory databases mean for  Datawarehouse? 
 1)  In-Memory database server systems are  fast.  Consideration should be given to...

PASS Regional Mentor

Wow, how time flies by.  It seems like just a month ago I was made the PASS Regional Mentor for...

Strong Manager or Weak Manager?

Here’s the link to my editorial on SSC last week. I was pleasantly surprised by the discussion, and was interested...

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

I’ve finished my 3rd book as part of my year long commitment to read and review professional/personal development books. I...

TRUNCATE_ONLY is not a recognized BACKUP option

Executing the code below in SQL Server 2008 will throw an error message:
 
BACKUP LOG ‘MyDatabase’ WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY

Msg 155, Level 15,...

T-SQL Enhancements: FIRST_VALUE() and LAST_VALUE()

A couple a weeks ago I blogged about a few of the enhancements in the OVER clause, and now I...

Using PowerShell to Monitor SQL Server

By Ian Treasure
Over the past few years, I have used a number of approaches to monitor SQL Server. For example,...

Applied SQL: Server Side Traces

It’s time to get your server side trace on, with a little practical application!
I introduce this whole concept in Applied...