Scaling PowerShell – Lessons from a Technical Interview
Recently, I was in a technical interview where the topic of running PowerShell at scale came up. Although I’ve worked with PowerShell for quite some time, I realized I’d...
2025-09-16
177 reads
Installing Old Versions of PowerShell Modules with Their Dependencies
I don’t recall where this came up (probably in SQLSlack), but I had a need to install an older version of dbatools to test something related to loading the...
2025-10-06 (first published: 2025-09-16)
192 reads
In Memory of Andrew Clarke, AKA Phil Factor
One of the parts of getting older that really sucks is I seem to attend more funerals than weddings. It’s a sad fact of file, and this was one...
2025-09-15
584 reads
Leading Through the Noise: Harnessing Data in the Age of Digital Overload
The New Leadership Frontier In today’s digital landscape, leaders are no longer just visionaries. They are navigators of complexity, interpreters of signals, and stewards of trust. Technology has transformed...
2025-09-15
80 reads
The “Kill” Command: What to Consider Before Stopping a SQL Server Process
Whether you’re troubleshooting on-premises SQL Server, Azure SQL DB, Managed Instance, or Amazon RDS, you will eventually encounter a “lead blocker”—that one high-cost, long-running session holding every other process...
2025-09-12
150 reads
A New Word: Anderance
anderance – n. the awareness that your partner perceives the relationship from a totally different angle than you – spending years looking at a different face across the table,...
2025-09-12
520 reads
Troubleshooting SQL Server – Starting with the Error Log
We’ve all been there. Someone walks up and asks, “Is SQL Server having issues?” What’s your first move? For me, it starts with the SQL Server Error log. I...
2025-10-03 (first published: 2025-09-11)
600 reads
From OLTP to Analytics: Bridging the Gap with Modern SQL Architectures
In the beginning, there was OLTP – Online Transaction Processing. Fast, reliable, and ruthlessly efficient, OLTP systems were the workhorses of enterprise data. They handled the daily grind: purchases,...
2025-10-08 (first published: 2025-09-11)
323 reads
Free Online Sessions – Building the €100 DWH and Indexing for Dummies
I’m giving two online sessions soon on virtual events that are free to attend. The first one is at Retro Data (20th of September), a new virtual conference focusing...
2025-09-12 (first published: 2025-09-11)
403 reads
Solving SQL Server Mysteries with a Whole Gang of Sleuths -Scooby Dooing Episode 4
One thing I’ve always loved about the Scooby-Doo cartoon is that he never solved a mystery alone. Scooby and Shaggy could sniff out a clue between snacks, but it...
2025-10-03 (first published: 2025-09-10)
259 reads
Blogs
Reading Blogs: T-SQL Tuesday #204
By Steve Jones
This is an interesting invitation this month. Jeff Ianucci is a new host, and...
Are Blogs Still Relevant? - T-SQL Tuesday #204
By alevyinroc
T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly blog party hosted by a different community member each...
How I Built RAG for My Accounting App on Bedrock and pgvector
The first version of my accounting assistant could not find a single purchase of...
Forums
Pay for Performance
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Pay for Performance, which is...
Slow - Linked server query
Hi I have this slow query that is pulling data from a linked server....
Too Many Choices
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Too Many Choices
Question of the Day
Too Many Choices
I have a table, dbo.MasterBrands, with this data:
BrandID OfficialName 1 Samsung 2 Apple 3 Microsoft 4 Adidas 5 Coca-ColaI run this query. What is returned for Coca-Cola?
SELECT CHOOSE(BrandID, 'Conglomerate', 'Tech and Design', 'Desktop', 'Apparel') FROM dbo.MasterBrands;See possible answers