Optimized Plan Forcing in SQL Server 2022
I’ve been reading Bob Ward’s book “SQL Server 2022 Revealed” and one of the new features in Intelligent Query Processing (IQP) jumped out at me. Not because it’s going...
2022-11-16
77 reads
Matthew McGiffen DBA
SQL Server 2022 is Coming
We still don’t have an exact release date for SQL Server 2022 but at this stage we can have strong confidence that it will be with us before the...
2022-11-15
89 reads
Setting up Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) is one of the easiest ways of encrypting your data at rest. In my prevous post we looked at what TDE is and how it...
2021-04-12
281 reads
What is Transparent Data Encryption?
In this post we look at Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) in SQL Server. What it is - and how it works.
2021-04-07 (first published: 2021-03-29)
416 reads
Setting the Sample Rate for Automatic Statistics updates
I talked a few posts ago about Automatic Sample Sizes for Statistics Updates. From SQL 2016 CU4 we've been able to override that. You can manually update a statistics...
2021-03-11 (first published: 2021-03-09)
382 reads
Viewing the Statistics Objects Used to Create an Execution Plan
Use trace flag 8666 to view the statistics objects that the optimizer used to generate your execution plan.
2021-03-01
27 reads
Automatic Sample Sizes for Statistics Updates
Looking at how SQL Server samples your data when doing auto-stats updates. Part of a series on understanding statistics, to help you achieve optimal performance of your queries on...
2021-03-02 (first published: 2021-02-24)
343 reads
Manually updating Statistics
Having up to date statistics is vital for getting the best performance out of your queries. Even though SQL Server automatically updates statistics in the background for you, you...
2021-02-16
227 reads
Book Review: Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches
If you work in the world of SQL Server you’ve almost certainly heard of dbatools. For those who haven’t, it’s an open source PowerShell module for automating literally hundreds...
2021-04-20 (first published: 2021-02-15)
490 reads
Reminder: SQL Server Agent and the clocks going forward
For most of us in the Northern Hemisphere the clocks go foward next month and we get to look forward to longer, sunnier evenings. This post is a reminder...
2021-02-17 (first published: 2021-02-10)
460 reads
Blogs
Claude Code Helps Analyze Test Data Manager Log Files
By Steve Jones
I had a customer ask about analyzing their Test Data Manager (TDM) usage to...
PowerPoint to HTML with Claude AI
By Steve Jones
I had an idea for an animated view of a sales tool, and started...
Don’t Miss Out – SQL Server Query Tuning Fundamentals Starts Next Monday!
Next Monday, February 9, 2026, my one-day live online training SQL Server Query Tuning...
Forums
Why the following cmds in sequence do not work
I need to delete rows from both the temporal main and history tables. The...
When SQL Server Central Went Down
Comments posted to this topic are about the item When SQL Server Central Went...
The String Distance I
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The String Distance I
Question of the Day
The String Distance I
In SQL Server 2025, what is returned by this code:
SELECT EDIT_DISTANCE('tim', 'tom')
Assume preview features are enabled. See possible answers