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SQLServerCentral Editorial

All the Tools in Your Toolbox

  • Editorial

I recently began writing an article to compare the performance of several window functions to traditional query methods. I began with my favorite function, LAG, but soon found that there were so many other ways to write the query that the article never covered the additional window functions. The article was quite fun to write, […]

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2021-09-18

203 reads

SQLServerCentral Editorial

What to do with more free time

  • Editorial

Many data professionals have begun working remotely over the past year and a half which translates to less time spent commuting. In my own case, I’ve been a remote worker for almost ten years, but before that I spent two hours on the road each day. This got me wondering what folks have done with […]

5 (2)

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2021-08-28

258 reads

SQLServerCentral Editorial

What Counts for a DBA: Skill

  • Editorial

Practice makes perfect:” right? Well, not exactly. The reality of it all is that this saying is an untrustworthy aphorism. I discovered this in my “younger” days when I was a passionate tennis player, practicing and playing 20+ hours a week. No matter what my passion level was, without some serious coaching (and perhaps a […]

5 (1)

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2021-08-14

242 reads

SQLServerCentral Editorial

Deploying SQL Server Automatically

  • Editorial

I've had to install SQL Server many times over the years. Often it has felt that most of these installs were one-offs, a dev server, a new QA instance, a production server for a brand new application. A few times I've had to recover from disaster, including restoring master, but often, I just installed SQL […]

2 (1)

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2021-07-31

475 reads

SQLServerCentral Editorial

Taking time off

  • Editorial

Time is a precious commodity, and so much of our time is dedicated to working. IT professionals often have jobs with good benefits, including generous paid time off. It’s important to get away from work to relax and recharge, but, sometimes, it’s difficult to take those days that belong to us. Even when we do […]

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2021-07-17

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SQLServerCentral Editorial

What Counts For a DBA: Ego

  • Editorial

Leaving aside, for a second, Freud’s psychoanalytical definitions, the term “ego” generally refers to a person’s sense of self, and their self-esteem. In casual usage, however, it usually appears in the adjectival form, “egotistical” (most often followed by “jerk”). You don’t need to be a jerk to be a DBA; humility is important. However, ego is important […]

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2021-06-26

288 reads

SQLServerCentral Editorial

What counts for a DBA: Foresight

  • Editorial

Of all the valuable attributes of a DBA, from passion to humility to practicality, perhaps one of the most important attributes may turn out to be the most seemingly nebulous: foresight. According to Free Dictionary, foresight is the "perception of the significance and nature of events before they have occurred". Foresight does not come naturally to most people, as the […]

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2021-05-15

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SQLServerCentral Editorial

Looking Forward to SQL Server vNext

  • Editorial

Releases of on-premises SQL Server arrived quite rapidly for a few years with seven releases during the years spanning 2008 and 2019. While it has technically been less than two years since SQL Server 2019 reached general availability in November 2019, it feels like ages since we have heard any news about what’s coming next. […]

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2021-04-24

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Question of the Day

Getting the Indexed Columns

I run this code on SQL Server 2022 to get a list of all the indexes and their key columns. What is returned?

SELECT   
    INDEX_COL (N'AdventureWorks2017.Sales.SalesOrderDetail')

See possible answers