Your SQL Starting Line: Best Free Databases for Beginners
Wondering which database to tackle first? I’ve got the lowdown on the top free choices for anyone new to SQL, and I’ll tell you exactly why they’re stellar for...
2025-05-28
711 reads
Blog Posts
SQL Server 2025: Using ZSTD Compression for SQL Server Backups
SQL Server 2025 introduces a new compression algorithm, ZSTD (Zstandard), which can help with database backup performance. The implementation of ZSTD gives you more control over your backup performance...
2025-05-27
60 reads
Azure Vulnerability Assessments
Regarding managing databases in the cloud, security should never be an afterthought. That’s where Azure Vulnerability Assessments, officially named Microsoft Defender, come in—they help you spot weak spots in...
2025-05-26 (first published: 2025-05-07)
435 reads
Speaking at the TechnoSecurity and Digital Forensics East Conference
The Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference (East) runs from June 3-5, 2025, this year in Wilmington, NC. I'll be speaking on Thursday, June 5, from 11:30 AM -12:20...
2025-05-26
18 reads
Stop Wasting Time Rebuilding Indexes Every Night
Too many IT teams run index rebuild jobs on autopilot. Every night. Every index. No questions asked. Here’s the truth: if you’re doing this daily on indexes smaller than...
2025-05-26 (first published: 2025-05-14)
672 reads
Techorama 2025 – Slides
You can find the slides for my session Building the €100 data warehouse with the Azure Data Platform on GitHub.
The post Techorama 2025 – Slides first appeared on Under...
2025-05-26
48 reads
SQL Inventory Dashboards: From Raw Data to Real Insight
Tired of inventory headaches? Stock shortages and gluts don't just cause stress; they cost you. Good news: an SQL-powered product inventory dashboard puts you firmly in control of stock...
2025-05-25
178 reads
Free SQL Practice: 9 Killer Resources to Boost Your Query Skills
So, you want to get your SQL skills razor-sharp without dropping any cash? You're in the right place. I’ve pulled together a list of the absolute best free SQL...
2025-05-24 (first published: 2025-05-23)
866 reads
Advice I Like: Take Two Trips
If you have any doubt about being able to carry a load in one trip, do yourself a huge favor and make two trips – from Excellent Advice for...
2025-05-23
18 reads
DevOps Devour Hour Slides
Here are the slides from my talk today at the Redgate NYC Devour Hour: Architecting Zero Downtime Deployments.pptx The Repo is here: https://github.com/way0utwest/ZeroDowntime An interesting question on feature toggles:...
2025-05-23
32 reads
Blogs
Finding Balance: Things Will Come Up
By Steve Jones
I have a presentation on finding balance in your career that got quite a...
Who Are You Doing It For?
By Brian Kelley
But as I've matured over the years, I came to realize that I needed...
Presenting Twice in May 2026
By alevyinroc
I will be presenting my latest session, Documenting Your Work for Worry-Free Vacations, in-person...
Forums
How to change the FDLaunch Error log file location
The file FDLAUNCHERRORLOG gets created in the default <instance>\MSSQL\Log folder. So far, I've found...
what data type i should use for roversion col and can i use less than greater
can i use Rowversioncol ( in my database it's synonyme timestamp is used) to...
Radius Latitude Longitude
I have a table with latitude longitude in the format. 45.123456 , -111.123456 ,...
Question of the Day
A Fun Computer Quote
Which movie featured this quote?
"All programs have a desire to be useful."Happy April Fools! See possible answers