Microsoft, Think DevOps First
Steve has a few issues with the design of the Power BI Service and their format for storing reports.
2019-06-22
407 reads
Database Weekly
Microsoft and Oracle Cloud Partnership
Many of us checked to make sure it wasn’t April Fools Day a couple of years ago when Microsoft announced that SQL Server 2017 would run on Linux. This means that some shops who want to run SQL Server, but not Windows Server, now can. But it also means that SQL Server professionals need to […]
2019-06-15
213 reads
Building or Buying Analytics
One of the decisions that I've been involved with at the beginning of every software project is whether to buy software to solve the problem or build our own. This might be a quick "is there software anyone knows about to do this?" query, or an in-depth review of the marketplace or something in between. […]
2019-06-08
233 reads
Why Tools Can Help You Do Your Job
This editorial was originally published on May 18, 2019. It is being re-run as Steve is on holiday. Back in my days as a SQL server DBA, I didn't have many third-party tools at my disposal. I remember having a monitoring tool with licenses for only three or four SQL server instances. Whenever there was […]
2025-01-20 (first published: 2019-05-18)
384 reads
2019-05-11
128 reads
2019-04-13
203 reads
Mongo Jumbo Backups
Backing up MongoDB is akin to backing up SQL Server databases with a Windows tool such as Microsoft DPM. It removes almost all control over the database backup, and more critically, the database restore operation.
2014-02-03
324 reads
DBAs and the Fear of Time Off
Rodney Landrum on why many DBAs find it hard to ask for, and take, their due DBAcations.
2013-05-27
269 reads
The Longevity of the Relational Database
Waves of NoSQL hysteria come and go but the relational database remains, and Phil Factor admires its sheer ubiquity, and ability to provide data integrity and accessibility for a vast tapestry of data categories.
2012-09-17
275 reads
The Ego, the Id and the DBA
In most organizations, the DBA team is seriously outnumbered by headstrong developers and clock driven managers, and "great" DBAs will often be outnumbered by...well...the not so great. In order to be heard in this environment, a DBA will not only need to be very skilled, but will also need a healthy dose of ego.
2012-09-03
222 reads
Blogs
Microsoft Fabric OneLake Shortcuts: When to Use Them and When Not To
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
SQL Server Security Hardening Guide Using the DoD STIG Checklist
Security on your SQL Server is important. That doesn’t need any explaining. But where...
EightKB 2026: Registration is Open!
It’s that time of year again! EightKB is back on August 20th at 13:00...
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Backing Up a DMK
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Question of the Day
Backing Up a DMK
In SQL Server 2025, I have a database with a Database Masker Key (DMK). I want to back up this key and keep a copy offline. When do I have to open this key before running the backup?
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