Avoiding Unexpected Results with DATEDIFF in Year Comparisons
Learn how to avoid unexpected results when using the DATEDIFF function to find the difference between two dates in years.
2018-04-09
1,787 reads
SQL Server
Critical SQL Server Patches for Meltdown and Spectre
Everyone needs to learn about these hardware bugs and apply patches as soon as possible.
2018-01-29 (first published: 2018-01-05)
8,587 reads
How to Turn on Instant File Initialization
Not having instant file initialization turned on slows down the process of adding pages to your database, because prior to allocating the data pages to your database, SQL Server needs to zero out the newly allocated pages.
2018-01-03
3,515 reads
Still More SQL Server Features that Time Forgot
As the final entry in this series, Robert Sheldon leads you through a group of forgotten features that have been removed from recent versions of SQL Server. In some cases, the features were widely used and often loved, while others had lost their usefulness over the years or were replaced with something much better. In this article, he remembers Data Transformation Services (DTS), a handful of DBCC commands, a few utilities, Active Directory Helper Service, English Query, Web Assistant, SQL Mail, Native XML Web Services, Notification Services, SQL Distributed Management Objects, Surface Area Configuration Tool, and the Pubs and Northwind databases.
2017-12-20
3,745 reads
Even More SQL Server Features that Time Forgot
SQL Server works well, and Microsoft does everything it can to keep it relevant and competitive: As with everything in real life, it doesn't don't always get it completely right, and Rob Sheldon continues his quest through the jungle of past features to rediscover and explore the ones that time forgot. Here, he comes across Lightweight Pooling, XML Indexes, Stretch Databases, SQL Variants, Transaction Savepoints and In-Memory OLTP.
2017-12-01
5,018 reads
More SQL Server Features that Time Forgot
SQL Server produces some great features, but it would be impossible to get them spot-on target every time. We are now quietly advised to use caution about using some of them, such as AutoShrink or the Index Advisor. Others, like the database diagramming tool, almost seem to have been quietly abandoned. Robert Sheldon investigates.
2017-11-21
4,678 reads
The SQL Server Features that Time Forgot
Every new release of SQL Server comes with new features that cause a ripple of excitement within the industry: well, amongst the marketing people anyway. What happens to all the exciting TLAs that are bandied about when a new version launches? It's mixed, it seems. Adam Machanic's classic post, The SQL Hall of Shame, has inspired Rob Sheldon to look back at some of the features that, though worthy, have may have failed to hit the mainstream.
2017-10-27
5,970 reads
What If Week: What Would You Fix Or Change?
Brent Ozar, Erik Darling, and Tara Kizer think about what they would change or fix if they had access to SQL Server’s source code.
2017-09-26
3,774 reads
Searching and finding a string value in all columns in a SQL Server table
Sometimes there is a need to find if a string value exists in any column in your table. Although there are system stored procedures that do a "for each database" or a "for each table", there is not a system stored procedure that does a "for each column".
2017-09-19
5,197 reads
Filegroup Restoring and Database Consistency
In this article, we'll explore a less used feature of SQL Server: filegroup restoring, feature that has an interesting consequence because database can become inconsistent without any warning and standard checks don't reveal any issue.
2017-06-27
3,613 reads
Blogs
2025 Wrapped for Steve
By Steve Jones
I’ve often done some analysis of my year in different ways. Last year I...
The Book of Redgate: Spread across the world
By Steve Jones
This was Redgate in 2010, spread across the globe. First the EU/US Here’s Asia...
Merry Christmas
By John
Today is Christmas and while I do not expect anybody to actual be reading...
Forums
SQL Server 2019 - Agent job PowerShell step issue
I have a couple of SQL Agent job steps which run PowerShell commands of...
Database security permissions save script
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Database security permissions save script
Database backup job steps
I have a SQL Agent job for backing up a set of Analysis Services...
Question of the Day
The Large Encoded Value
I want to use the new BASE64_ENCODE() function in SQL Server 2025, but return a string that isn't large type. What is the longest varbinary string I can pass in and still get a varchar(8000) returned?
See possible answers