How to Resolve SQL Server Database Stuck in Recovery Pending State

Learn how to recover a database from a missing or corrupt transaction log file.

Limits, Not Goals

I just saw one of "those" questions. You know the ones: 'We're hitting an error with a stored procedure. What is the maximum number of parameters you can have?" <sigh> Look, I get it. Breaking the land speed record is cool. Getting the most people into a phone booth (look it up), also cool. Fastest, […]

Throwing Iron at the Cloud and AI

As organizations move to the cloud, the once essential role of the Database Administrator (DBA) as the guardian of system optimization, has been overshadowed, often viewed as a bottleneck to innovation. Yet, as technology evolves, the one thing I know is history repeats itself, and optimization skills are once again emerging as a critical necessity. […]

JSON in Microsoft SQL Server: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) has become a popular data format for storing and exchanging information. Microsoft SQL Server, starting from version 2016, introduced built-in support for JSON, allowing developers to work with JSON data more efficiently within the relational database environment. This article will explore how to store, retrieve, and manipulate JSON data in […]

Technical Pain Behaviors

In my family’s history of the past 10+ years, we have become well versed in nagging, ongoing, non-debilitating pain. In some ways, the lessons we have learned about physical pain correlate all too well to the types of pain that we technical people are involved with daily. But there is a huge difference, even if […]

Boosting Data Accuracy: Resolving Common Data Quality Issues Using SQL

Poor data quality significantly hinders large enterprises from deriving meaningful value. The variety of data is a crucial factor to account for when assessing & rectifying data quality, as diverse data types introduce unique challenges in maintaining accuracy and consistency. Good data quality and integrity are essential for accurate insights, good decision-making, and potential success of large enterprises. Inconsistent, incomplete, and inaccurate data significantly affect business operations, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. SQL provides robust functions to proactively identify and resolve these data quality issues, ensuring accurate, reliable, and consistent data for reporting and analysis.

Why Standards are Important

There is something in the tech mindset that simultaneously loves and loathes a standard. Having standards is important, what those standards are is less so.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful

Yeah, I know, holidays are over. It snowed about four inches overnight here and it's still coming down a little. You'll forgive me for having that song running through my head. Yesterday morning, before the storm started, we did a check through the house to make sure we were ready for a couple of days […]

Leveraging the “STUFF” Function for Enhanced Data Representation and String Manipulation 

Learn the basics of the T-SQL STUFF command.

Superseded Indexes