William Shakespeare once wrote in the play Romeo and Juliet: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” It is a beautiful sentiment in that context, and even still you might say that there is some truth to this saying in a lot of ways. […]
2023-11-04
1,861 reads
Another company has hard-coded credentials, which Steve feels are a sign of bad culture.
2023-10-23
156 reads
Today, I want to blog about something I have only limited knowledge of … confidence. Okay, I understand what confidence is, and I have seen it before in the real world and not just in biographical movies. In fact, I have met quite a few highly confident people. In almost every case, it was immediately […]
2023-10-07
96 reads
I've been traveling in Europe this week, partially for holiday and partially for work. It's been a nice break, and it's always interesting to experience the world in different places, away from the United States where I've spent most of my life. I get to come often, and I enjoy the experience, but I'm sometimes […]
2023-09-16
133 reads
When most people were young, they had someone telling them to "Mind your manners." Such classics as: "Keep your elbows off of the table," "Use a fork," "Put on deodorant," as well as "Don't chew with your mouth open" were bandied about like there were laws of nature. However, manners differ significantly from laws in […]
2023-08-12
144 reads
Brent Ozar has his quarterly report on SQL Server versions and SQL Server 2022 isn't being used as much. Does that make sense to you? What versions are you installing?
2023-07-22
465 reads
The other day, I was in a Twitter discussion interviewing people for technical positions. This reminded me of one of my favorite things to do in interviews… reading the list of qualifications/skills and asking questions about its contents. If you put it on the resume, I assume you know something about it and are willing […]
2023-07-15
158 reads
2023-06-24
176 reads
Steve notes that password expiration is important for SQL Logins, but he knows this isn't always configured when logins are created, or checked later to see if it is still enabled.
2023-05-27
574 reads
An old sport saying goes like this “I could beat them with one arm tied behind my back.” Well, after six weeks with my arm in a sling, I am in awe of whoever tries that because everything is a lot harder. Like washing your hand and then drying it, becomes more of a challenge […]
2023-05-20
110 reads
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
Security on your SQL Server is important. That doesn’t need any explaining. But where...
It’s that time of year again! EightKB is back on August 20th at 13:00...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Backing Up a DMK
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Quiet Part
Comments posted to this topic are about the item BIT_COUNT in SQL Server
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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