Stairway Series

Stairway to AlwaysOn

Stairway to Always On

  • Stairway

AlwaysOn is a complex set of technologies that is often mis-understood. In this Stairway you will learn about the AlwaysOn technologies, how they fit into the High Availability stack, and how to make good use of them.

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2024-07-23 (first published: )

19,249 reads

Stairway to SQL Server Virtulization

Stairway to SQL Server Virtualization

  • Stairway

Virtualization is becoming more and more common, and without an understanding how virtualization works, the DBA will have blind spots when attempting to resolving performance issues, such as reduce resource contention, or improve the backup and restore operations, and so on.

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2014-06-25

3,774 reads

Stairway to SQLCLR

Stairway to SQLCLR

  • Stairway

The possibilities for programming SQL Server platform were greatly enhanced with the addition of the SQLCLR subsystem. This allows code written in any .NET language to be incorporated into your SQL Server instance and called from a stored procedure or function. You can also create your own data types or aggregates for specialized purposes. This Stairway series will teach you how to get started writing your own CLR code and integrating it into SQL Server.

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2013-12-27

14,608 reads

Stairway to Biml

Stairway to Biml

  • Stairway

Biml is a markup language that enables you to quickly represent a variety of database related models and constructs, including SSIS packages, models, permissions and more. This stairway helps you get started using the language to represent your objects.

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2013-07-09

7,507 reads

Stairway to XML

Stairway to XML

  • Stairway

XML has been part of the SQL Standard since 2003, and it is also essential for any DBA because so many of the dynamic management views return XML data. Now that the industry is more used to data defined by document markup, it is becoming more important than ever for Database Developers and DBAs to understand the technology and to know where it makes sense to use XML. In this series of articles, Robert Sheldon flexes his talent to make the complicated seem simple.
Note: This series of articles is now available as an eBook.

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2012-08-14

6,474 reads

Stairway to SQL PowerShell

Stairway to SQL PowerShell

  • Stairway

PowerShell is a powerful scripting tool that allows you to automate routine tasks, and script administrative tasks, allowing you to automate a lot of the routine work in a SQL environment. Ben Miller's Stairway Series introduces PowerShell from the beginning, guiding you through how to configure and get started with the framework before working towards more advanced scripting.

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2012-06-14

12,248 reads

Stairway to SQL Dialects

Stairway to SQL Dialects

  • Stairway

The SQL language has developed many dialects over the years, with MySQL, PostgreS and Oracle all popular extensions of the core language. This Stairway Series gives an overview of how SQL dialects formed and looks at some of the most commonly-used dialects in detail.

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2012-04-13

1,306 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

  • Stairway

Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) can be used in formulas or expressions to calculate and return information from data already in our Power BI models. This Stairway series serves as a progressive introduction to DAX within the context of Power BI, examining the functions, operators and values involved, and examining their operation in practice examples. As a part of introducing DAX functions and overall capabilities, the Levels of the series will also offer a wealth of practical exposure to Power BI features as a part of putting DAX to work in our data models and visualizations.

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2026-04-15 (first published: )

19,868 reads

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Question of the Day

SQL Server Certificates

Which of these is not true for certificates used for SQL Server connections?

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