Squeezing Wasted Full Scans out of SQL Server Agent
This article by new contributing member Bob Musser shows you how to reduce the amount of scans that SQL Server Agent does against databases. Not for the faint of heart.
2003-02-13
4,983 reads
Administration
Getting Rid of Excessive Files and Filegroups in SQL Server
Although there are legitimate reasons for using filegroups, Chad Miller recently encountered a situation where they were used too much. He shows you in this article why and how to remove excessive filegroups.
2003-02-11
12,371 reads
Autoclose for Databases
In SQL Server 2000, there is a database option to close the database when it is not in use. Every wonder what this is? Or when it should be used? Steve Jones takes a look at this seldom used option.
2003-02-10
12,041 reads
Should you call Microsoft for support?
I've had to call Microsoft quite a few times for support this year. Was it worth it? Read on to see when you should decide to call.
2003-02-06
6,172 reads
Who's to Blame for the SQL Slammer Virus?
Last week the SQL Sapphire (or SQL Slammer) virus hit corporate networks throughout the Internet. Although damage has not been estimated yet, it is sure to be in the tens of millions of dollars. So who is to blame when a virus like this manhandles a corporate environment?
2003-02-03
5,845 reads
Managing Jobs - Part 1
How many jobs do you have? 10? 100? 1000? Andy makes the point that what works to manage for a small number of jobs doesn't work when that number doubles or triples (well, unless you only had 1 job to start with!). In part one of two, this article looks at ideas for using categories and naming conventions to get things under control.
2003-01-31
10,522 reads
Server Hardware Standards
Standards are important in the computer business, both the hardware and software side. After looking at Coding Standards in a previous series, Steve Jones looks at the server side of standards beginning with hardware.
2003-01-30
6,067 reads
Block the DBA?
Can you block a DBA from performing certain actions on a server if he has sysadmin rights? The real answer is no, but this article shows you how to block an unknowledgable DBA from performing certain actions.
2003-01-28
6,877 reads
Another Disaster (Almost)
Andy had a semi-disaster similar to the one he wrote about last year. Interesting to see the kinds of problems that happen to other people. This article raises some interesting points that are outside the scope of basic disaster recovery, looking at how/when to move databases to a different server and how to reduce the server load dynamically.
2003-01-14
7,063 reads
Building a Demo System - Part 3
Continuing on looking at demo servers, this article presents an interesting solution to ensuring consistent demos that was deployed out in the field for a client company.
2003-01-13
3,636 reads
Blogs
AI: Blog a Day – Day 4: Transformers – Encoder, Decoder, and Attention
By Vinay Thakur
Continuing from Day 3 where we covered LLM models open/closed and their parameters, Today...
Flyway Tips: Multiple Projects
By Steve Jones
One of the nice things about Flyway Desktop is that it helps you manage...
What DevOps Look Like in Microsoft Fabric
By HeyMo0sh
Microsoft Fabric (not to be confused with the more general term “fabric” in DevOps)...
Forums
Can an Azure App Service Managed Identity be used for SQL Login?
I'm fairly certain I know the answer to this from digging into it yesterday,...
Azure Synapse database refresh
Hi Team, I am trying to refresh the Azure Synapse Dedicated pool from production...
how to write this query?
hi everyone I am not sure how to write the query that will produce...
Question of the Day
Fun with JSON I
I have some data in a table:
CREATE TABLE #test_data
(
id INT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(100),
birth_date DATE
);
-- Step 2: Insert rows
INSERT INTO #test_data
VALUES
(1, 'Olivia', '2025-01-05'),
(2, 'Emma', '2025-03-02'),
(3, 'Liam', '2025-11-15'),
(4, 'Noah', '2025-12-22');
If I run this query, how many rows are returned?
SELECT *
FROM OPENJSON(
(
SELECT t.* FROM #test_data AS t FOR JSON PATH
)
) t; See possible answers