The new release update experience

For about the last … hmmm…maybe decade or more, when you downloaded a release update from MOS for your database, the patch would consist of a single folder which...

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: A Plan

My most recent bout with imposter syndrome was with ISACA’s Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework (DTEF) foundation exam. I’m blogging about it because I know a lot of people struggle...

Advice I Like: Celebrate Success

“On the way to a grand goal, celebrate the smallest victories as if each one were the final goal. That way, no matter where it ends, you are victorious.”...

My APEX installer / patcher

Hopefully you have just seen that APEX patchset bundle 16 has just been released for 24.2. Of particular note is that a well-publicised Chrome change to deprecate the unload...

Programmatically Retrieving MLV Lineage and Refresh Times

Materialized lake views (MLVs) in Microsoft Fabric are an effective way to implement medallion architecture declaratively, but once you have a pipeline of MLVs in production, you need visibility...

SWAG Saves the Day

PASS Summit East is in one week. I was on the road last week in the UK and then Houston for the Houston AI-lytics event. I had been a...

The unhealthy obsession with ROLLBACK

So I jumped onto an LLM and asked it to give me some PL/SQL to handle a 3-step series of DML statements and out popped the following code: That...

Upgrading SQL Server Containers on the Laptop

I don’t have SQL Server installed on my laptop. In an effort to keep things clean and smooth in case I need to rebuild things, I’ve gone with containers....

How to Find Expensive Queries in Amazon Redshift

Slow-running queries can degrade your Redshift cluster’s performance and lead to increased costs. Identifying the most expensive queries is crucial to optimize resource usage and improve overall system efficiency.

Step-by-Step...

The Notification Trap: How Input Fatigue Is Killing Deep Work in Tech

If you’ve been here before, you know this blog is usually about SQL Server, PowerShell, and the day-to-day work of being a DBA. Execution plans, availability groups, dbatools scripts...