SQL Server supports partially contained databases. This gives you the option of adding database users with a password inside the database. This makes the database easier to move to another instance or participate in an Always On Availability Group. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains how to work with users in contained databases.
2019-03-11
SQL+.net is the first real innovation in data access for quite some time, and was built exclusively for SQL developers.
2019-03-07
3,725 reads
Whether or not to have NULLable columns in a table can be a religious debate, and how missing data is represented should be carefully considered during database design. In this article, Joe Celko considers the ways that SQL Server handles NULLs in several situations.
2019-02-11
3,289 reads
You have many options when exporting data from a database. In this article, Phil Factor compares several methods including XML and array-in-array JSON for speed and file size.
2019-01-17
3,509 reads
This post covers the basic details that you need to know while developing a RESTful API using Node, Express and SQL Server.
2018-07-30
22,975 reads
2018-03-19 (first published: 2018-03-15)
451 reads
2017-12-29 (first published: 2017-12-27)
1,660 reads
Running Interactive and Batch SQL Queries on Hadoop and other distributed clusters using SQL.
2019-07-26 (first published: 2017-12-11)
5,437 reads
In the real world of business or scientific reporting and analysis, data can prove to be awkward. It can be plain wrong or it can be altogether missing. Sure, we have the NULL to signify unknown, but that doesn't play well with regular business reporting. There are a number of ways of dealing with missing information, and methods of estimating data from existing data has a long and respectable history. Joe Celko gets to grips with a data topic that is often treated with some trepidation.
2017-11-13
4,133 reads
Some time ago, Phil Factor wrote his booklet 'SQL Code Smells', collecting together a whole range of SQL Coding practices that could be considered to indicate the need for a review of the code. It was published as 119 code smells, even though there were 120 of them at the time. Phil Factor has continued to collect them and the current state of the art is reflected in this article. There are now around 150 of these smells and SQL Code Guard is committed to cover as many as possible of them.
2017-11-06
8,928 reads
A nightly load into sales_fact fails. Ask an orchestrating agent to break down the...
By Steve Jones
It’s been some time since I provided a car update, so I decided to...
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Managing Incidents and Fighting Fires
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
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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